Night-flowering Catchfly (Silene noctiflora) is a species of plant in the Caryophyllaceae family, known by the common names clammy cockle and night flowering silene. With almost 900 species[1], it’s the largest genus in the Caryophyllaceae family.
The Night-flowering Catchfly is a medium-sized annual that resembles white silenus in appearance but is covered in sticky hairs (hence the popular name catchfly) and deeper petals. The florets also differ in color, being pink or white on top covered in creamy.
Night-flowering Catchfly is a naturalized and introduced upright annual that grows 1-4 feet tall on sturdy stems that branch off the top, having thick hairs on the bottom and sticky glandular hairs on the top.
The larger lower foliage is spatulate and narrow on a short, winged stem. These may be 3-5 inches in length. The inflorescence is a slightly branched raceme on each stem that has from 3-15 flowers. The fragrant flowers open at night and close in the bright morning light.
The corollaWhat is corolla?A collective term referring to the petals of a flower. is white, sometimes with pinkish tones, and has five narrow, spreading claw-shaped lobes that are deeply serrated with rounded and slightly serrated ends.
