Seasonal Wild Flowers

Rose Campion

Lychnis coronaria

Caryophyllaceae

June to August

The garden plant it is found throughout the country.

The escape it is found mainly in the South and the Southeast.

It is patchily, scattered elsewhere.

See the BSBI distribution map for Rose Campion

It is a persistent garden escape found on dry, light soils, such

as heaths, dunes and waste ground, and beside railways and

roads.

It is a neophyte which has been grown in the UK as a garden

plant since the mid 1400s and has been recorded in the wild

since the early1900s.

Rose Campion is an introduced, relatively short-lived, perennial

herb growing up to 1m.

The flowers are on stems up to 40cm.

The flowers are deep, cerise red, up to 3cm across and the

petals frequently bent back.

The stems and leaves are light grey.

Rose Campion beside a railway, Lancaster

Newly open flower

Folded-back flower

Grey leaves and stems