PLANT of the MONTH   ~~   JUNE 2008
updated on or about the 1st of each month

FRINGED INDIAN PINK Common Name(s): Fringed Indian Pink, Indian Pink, California Indian Pink, Campion (field flower), Catchfly Scientific Name: Silene laciniata Family: Caryophyllaceae, Pink family Plant Type: Perennial herbaceous plants Size: 1-3 feet high Common Habitat: shaded woodlands, sage scrub, chaparral

Fringed Indian Pink is more red than pink but definitely fringy. The flowers have five petals that appear slashed into fringes - Laciniata means "torn" - about an inch or so in diameter. It blooms from April to July. The leaves are linear-shaped, about 2 inches long. Leaves and the swaying, limp stems are hairy and sticky, making it one of several plants with the common name of "Catchfly". The genus name of Silene also refers to the excretion of a sticky or foamy substance - either for the intoxicated foster father of the Greek figure Bacchus, or the Greek word "sialon" meaning saliva.

Hummingbirds and other winged creatures pollinate this plant rather than the various legged insects who avoid the sticky stems. There is another plant going by the common name of Indian Pink, Spigelia merilandica, but this is found in the eastern half of the country and is not related to this plant which is only found in the extreme western states.

Contributed by Liz Baumann

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REFERENCES:
Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains, by Milt McAuley
Flowering Plants: The Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California, by Nancy Dale
Roadside Plants of Southern California, by Thomas J. Belzer
California Native Plants for the Garden, by Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O'Brien
California Herbal Remedies, by LoLo Westrich