Family |
Caryophyllaceae
Silene gallica
L.
Silene gallica L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 417 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 491, Pl. CLXVI, 4; 1966)
Description
Life-form & habit: Short-haired annual, 10–40 cm tall, with grooved, simple or sparsely branched stems, slightly sticky toward the tip.
Leaves: Slightly hairy, oval-spatulate below and narrower above.
Inflorescence & flowers: Nearly one-sided racemes. Each flower is accompanied by two bracts as long as, or longer than, the flower. The cylindrical calyx bears spreading hairs and narrow pointed teeth. Petals are pink or white, obovate, entire or shallowly two-lobed, with short, truncate crown scales.
Fruit: Almost stalkless, ovoid capsule.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering January–April.
Habitat & elevation: Fields and woodland.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Zahrani, Saida, Khalde, Beirut and its surroundings, Nahr el Kalb, Antelias, Tripoli, below Beit Meri, Bikfaya, Broummana, Falougha, Saida–Nabatiye, Jisr el Khardali, Ainata and Kfertay.
Syrian distribution: Tartous, Banias, Kessab, Tell Kalakh and Qalaat el Hosn.
Native range: Albania, Algeria, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Selvagens, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine.
Introduced into: Afghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Ascension, Baltic States, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, British Columbia, California, Cape Provinces, Central European Russia, Chile Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, Florida, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Haiti, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Korea, KwaZulu-Natal, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mauritius, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Northwest, Mississippi, Missouri, Netherlands, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New York, New Zealand North, Norfolk Is., North Carolina, Northern Provinces, Norway, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Peru, Poland, Prince Edward I., Rhode I., Réunion, Saudi Arabia, South Carolina, St.Helena, Sweden, Tanzania, Tasmania, Texas, Tubuai Is., Uganda, Uruguay, Washington, West Himalaya, Yemen, Zimbabwe.