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 gardens the UK

since the mid 1400s and recorded in the wild in the early

1900s.

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 by a railway, Lancaster

Newly open flower

Folded-back flower

Grey leaves and stems