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~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: Silene dioica

Three campions

26 Sunday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers

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Tags

Bladder campion, Red campion, Silene dioica, Silene latifolia, Silene vulgaris, White campion

Here are three campions I’ve found during this week’s walks. The first was a late-flowering surprise I found on Wednesday and is in the best condition of these three campions as it was photographed before the hard frost we had yesterday, Saturday. This is the lovely Red campion (Silene dioica).

231126 red campion

The White campion (Silene latifolia) also looked lovely when I saw it on Wednesday but these photos were taken today so the flowers were showing the effects of the weather, drooping, wet from this morning’s drizzle, the petals almost transparent but still pretty. I’ve included a second photo, a side view of the flower so you can see the difference between White and the third campion, below, which also has white petals.

231126 white campion

And this is the third campion of the week, very much past its best now, with the merest slivers of petals still remaining. The shape that gives the Bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) its name is very obvious and, once again, I’ve included a second image, this one taken in June, to show this pretty flower at its best.

231126 bladder campion

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108/365 Smut in Bute Park

18 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, fungi, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Bute Park, Microbotryum silenes-dioicae, Red campion, Red campion smut, Silene dioica, smut, smut fungus

One of my Facebook friends recently made the comment that you can never have too much smut so I immediately thought of him when I saw how much smut was to be found in Cardiff’s Bute Park this afternoon.

Before you think this blog is descending rapidly towards the gutter, let me quickly say that the smut to which I am referring is Microbotryum silenes-dioicae, a smut that occurs on the anthers of Red campion (Silene dioica) flowers. It’s a type of fungus that produces brown, powdery spores so it’s very easy to spot, as you can see below – the photo on the left shows a normal Red campion flower, the flowers on the right are smutty.

190418 (2) red campion without smut
190418 (3) red campion with smut
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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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