146 CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 
celle large, ovoid, with ten inbent valves at the apex which curve 
outward when ripe and from which the seeds are shaken out as the 
winds sway the stems; seeds very abundant, small, grayish brown, 
beaded with fine tubercles; too frequent an impurity among those 
of grain, grass, and clover. (Fig. 97.). 
Means of control 
Prevent seed production by close cutting or hand-pulling at the 
time of first bloom. Meadows and grain fields where the plants 
have been permitted to distribute seed should be broken up and 
given a short rotation of cultivated crops before reseeding. 
SLEEPY CATCHFLY 
Siléne antirrhina, L. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: Late July to October. 
Range: Ontario and New England to British 
Columbia, southward to Florida and Mexico. 
noes Dry meadows, waste places, open 
woods. 
An inconspicuous plant because of its habit of 
keeping its flowers closed except for a very short 
time each day while the sun shines brightest. 
Its seeds, however, are often found among 
those of grass and clover. 
Stem eight inches to two feet high, slender 
and glutinous below the swollen joints. Leaves 
small, the lower ones about two inches long, 
spatulate, narrowing to a margined petiole; 
stem-leaves narrow and sessile, reduced near 
the top to awl-like bracts. Flowers in a cymose 
panicle on very slender pedicels, each less than 
a quarter-inch broad, the five pink petals 
fie, Gk.— Sleep notched; styles three, rarely four; stamens 
Catchfly (Silene ten. Capsule ovoid, opening by three or six 
antirrhina). X%. teeth at the apex, one-celled or imperfectly 
