Family: carnations (Caryophyllaceae)
Flowering time: May–September
Size: 30–90 cm
Habitat: lawns, tall stems, forests and moist shrubbery
Red campion (Silene dioica) is a biennial or perennial. Its erect, hairy stem is leafy with opposite ovate to lanceolate leaves. The flowers are unisexual, meaning that in a single flower only the stamens (male flowers) or only the pistils (female flowers) develop. Plants are dioecious, meaning that on one plant there are only female flowers, and on the other only male flowers. The flowers of red campion at the top of the plant form an inflorescence. The thick, protruding hairy calyx is cylindrical; it is 10 to 15 mm long. The calyx of male flowers has 10 veins, the calyx of female flowers 20. The deeply curved cyclamen-colored bracts are 15 to 25 mm long.
Red campion prefers moist soils rich in nitrogen. In Slovenia it is widely distributed in higher elevations, from the alpine belt (above 600 or 700 m above sea level) to the forest boundary; in the lowlands it is rare, so we will hardly encounter it in Pomurje and in Primorska.
