This is a most attractive wildflower of shady hedgerows, grassy banks and woods. Perennial or biennial, it's a hairy plant which grows to 1m. It bears pretty pink-red flowers (2-3cm across) which have 5 cleft petals and which are borne in loose cymes from May to September. Unlike White Campion, this plant produces no fragrance. The leaves are pointed, oval and hairy, in opposite pairs with the lower ones stalked. This is a native plant which belongs to the family Caryophyllaceae.
This species hybridises with White Campion to produce Silene x hampeana, a soft pink flowered plant that is pictured at bottom of this page.
I first recorded this plant growing at Derrynane, Co Kerry in 1977 and I returned to the same spot (in the wettest week of June 2008) to photograph it.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
