Atocion armeria L.
sweet William catchfly
Caryophyllaceae (Pink family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Robert Flogaus-Faust     (Photo ID #68874)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Atocion armeria
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Species Information

General:
Annual herb from a taproot; glabrous to sparsely short-hairy, slightly sticky above; stems erect, solitary, branched, hollow, glabrous, 10-70 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves linear to spoon-shaped, mostly 2-5 cm long and 0.5-1.5 cm wide, unstalked and more or less clasping, glabrous; stem leaves oblanceolate, unstalked and more or less clasping, glabrous, glaucous; stipules lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of usually several to many flowers in an open to contracted and often flat-topped cluster; petals 5, pink to rose or lavender, stalklike at the bases, the stalks 6-8 mm long, the blades egg-shaped to wedge-shaped, rounded to shallowly lobed, 4-7 mm long; sepals 5, reddish, united, forming a tube 12-17 mm long, 10-nerved, glabrous.
Fruits:
Capsules cylindric egg-shaped, to 16 mm long, 6-valved; seeds dark brown to black, about 0.6 mm long, evenly wrinkled.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Habitat and Range

Mesic to dry roadsides and fields in the lowland zone; infrequent in SW BC, known only from S Vancouver Island and the lower Fraser Valley; introduced from Europe.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Silene armeria L.