Lychnis

Lychnis /ˈlɪknɪs/[1] is a genus of 15-25 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to Europe, Asia and north Africa. The genus is closely related to (and sometimes included in) Silene, differing in the flowers having five styles (three in Silene), the seed capsule having five teeth (six in Silene), and in the sticky stems of Lychnis. Common names include campion (shared with Silene) and catchfly, the latter name based on the sticky stems.

Lychnis
Lychnis chalcedonica flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Lychnis
L.
Species

See text

Lychnis coronata by Abraham Jacobus Wendel, 1868

Selected species
  • Lychnis alpina (alpine catchfly)
  • Lychnis chalcedonica (Maltese cross)
  • Lychnis cognata
  • Lychnis flos-cuculi (ragged robin)
  • Lychnis flos-jovis (flower-of-Jove)
  • Lychnis fulgens
  • Lychnis nivalis
  • Lychnis senno
  • Lychnis sibirica
  • Lychnis sieboldii
  • Lychnis viscaria (sticky catchfly)
  • Lychnis wilfordii

Formerly placed here

Ecology

The lychnis is also the common name of Hadena bicruris, a species of noctuid moth. The larva of this moth feeds on Lychnis species, as do some other Lepidoptera including cabbage moth (recorded on L. chalcedonica), grey chi and case-bearers of the genus Coleophora including C. albella (feeds exclusively on L. flos-cuculi) and C. leucapennella.

Notes
  1. Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607

References
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