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Rose Campion
(Lychnis coronaria )
pronounced LICK-nis
"Lychnis" is from the Greek word for lamp, a reference to the flame colored flowers of some species.
This is NOT a native plant.
Rose Campion comes from southern Europe. It blooms in June and July. It has naturalized in some places in the country.
You can easily see the white woolly foliage in this picture.
Fine hairs on a plant have a reason for being there. Protectiing against rapid temperature change, avoiding excessive moisture loss and tripping up insects are three reasons. This plant looks easy to walk on if you are an ant, so I would assume it is one or both of the other reasons. If we knew where it grew in its native land we could make a more educated guess.
If you pick off the dead flowers they will keep blooming...getting taller and taller.
When seed develop the the capsules dry and open at the top like little jars. You can carefully pick the whole stem and carry it to where you want more campion to grow. There you can sprinkle the seeds. Do this as soon as they are ripe.
Unwanted plants pull out without any effort.
Study Pointers:
- Notice how the stems are arranged. Draw a simple diagram of one of the plants in the garden. Starting at the bottom where the flower stem comes out of the rosette of leaves, how many times does the stem fork?
- Notice the leaves. How are they arranged? Look at another plant in the garden...are its leaves arranges in the same pattern?
- Pick 10 (or 20 or 30) different plants and quickly take a survey. How many arrange their leaves opposite from each other like the campion?
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