Wildflower Wednesday

This week’s Wildflower Wednesday featured flower is White Campion.

White Campion is a naturalized wildflower in WI (this basically means they are not native but are not invasive.) 

Its main identifiable feature is its “bladder” shaped flower. A single ‘bladder” can produce up to 24,000 seeds. The flowers open at night and release a sweet scent, attracting moths for pollination.

The female flowers secret a frothy foam which is where it gets its genus name, Silene. Silene, is a reference to the Greek woodland god Silenus who was depicted covered in sticky foam. 

In England it is known as Flower of the Dead or Grave Flower because it is common to see it growing naturally on graves.

In Wales, it was believed that anyone who picked White Campion would be attacked by snakes.  -  That is a chance I will NOT be talking!