Species name :

Silene gallicaL.
Published in Sp. Pl. 417 (1753)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

No Main Synonyms

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Caryophyllaceae Juss. (The Pink or Carnation Family)
39 species from the Caryophyllaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Small-flowered Catchfly

Maltese name(s) :

Maltese name not known

Status for Malta :

Casual or accidental alien species introduced in Malta rather recently and which is short-lived or resticted in small populations for a short time without becoming widespread.

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     Frequent     Scarce     Rare     Very Rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: THEROPHYTE (annuals)
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Not Protected by Law (LN200/2011 or LN311/2006)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

Apr-Jul

Colour of Flowers:

Pink

Habitat in Europe:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Fields, gardens, footpaths close to sites of repeated introductions although not seen again, recently.

Botanical Description:

Stems 15-45 cm, erect, simple to much-branched, pubescent, viscid above, or (var. giraldii (Guss.) Walters) glabrous. Leaves pubescent. Flowers subsecund, in 1 to many raceme-like monochasial cymes; lower pedicels up to 11/2 times as long as calyx, the upper short. Calyx 7-10 mm, cylindrical-ovoid, becoming ovoid in fruit, hispid, toothed for 1/4 of its length with triangular, acute teeth; veins scarcely anastomosing. Petals white or pink, often with crimson spot (var. quinquevulnera (L.) Koch); limb up to 6 mm, entire or emarginate. Capsule 6-9 mm; carpophore usually 1 mm or less. Seeds dark brown; faces deeply concave, striate; back wide, plane.

Chromosome number:

2n=24

Distributional range:

W., S. & S.C. Europe naturalized further north

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):

Albania, Austria and Liechtenstein, the Azores, the Balaeric Islands, Britain (excl. Northern Ireland and Channel islands), Bulgaria, Corse, Crete, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Greece, Switzerland, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Hungary, Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), ex-Jugoslavia, Portugal, Romania, Russia and former USSR, Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta, Turkey (European part), Introduced in  Belgium, Czeck Republic and Slovakia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and former USSR

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

? AE Ag Al Au Az Bl(I M N) Br Bu dCa(C F G H L P T) Co Cr Ct Cy Eg Ga(F) Gr He Hs(S) Hu IJ It Li LS Lu Ma Md(D M P) Mk Rm Sa Sg Si(M S) Sl Sn Tn Tu(A) Uk(U) [Az(C F G J L M P S T) Fe Ge Hb La Po Sk]

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