STARRY CAMPION
File Size: 64 KB
 
Silene stellata   (L. ) W.T. Aiton
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 2-4 feet
Family: Caryophyllaceae - Pink Family
Flowering Period:   June, July, August
Stems: Erect, several, simple to inflorescence, often purplish, sparsely to densely rough-hairy.
Leaves: Mostly in whorls of 4 but occasionally opposite, simple, sessile, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 1.5 to 4.5 inches long, .5 to 1.75 inch wide, minutely hairy; margins entire; tips tapered to points.
Inflorescences: Panicles, loose, several to many flowers, terminal.
Flowers: Showy, about 3/4 to 1 inch wide, short-stalked; calyces bell- or funnel-shaped, 5-toothed, 10-nerved, finely hairy, teeth broadly triangular; petals 5, 1/3 to 2/3 inch long, white; tips deeply fringed into 8-12 lobes; stamens 10, threadlike, protruding past petals.
Fruits: Capsules, nearly spherical, 6-toothed, firm; seeds many, purplish brown.
Habitat: Woods and thickets, in sandy or clay soils.
Distribution: East 1/3 of Kansas.
Comments: "Starry" is in reference to the appearance of the flowers.

Starry campion flower
51 KB
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Starry campion flowers
50 KB
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Starry campion
154 KB
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Starry campion leaves
105 KB
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Starry campion calyx
57 KB
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Starry campion
96 KB
Cherokee County, Kansas
Starry campion fruit
43 KB
Morris County, Kansas
Starry campion leaves
58 KB
Morris County, Kansas
Starry campion leaves
74 KB
Morris County, Kansas