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Night-flowering Catchfly

Silene noctiflora

Found in fields, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

—
Not native

Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 53%

Height
8–30 inches
Light
Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to moist

At a glance

Life cycle
Annual

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

Bloom: recorded only in the FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) phone app (app page).

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 18 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Silene

  • Hadena capsularisCapsule Moth
  • Hadena ectypaCampion Coronet
  • Lacinipolia renigeraBristly Ground Cat, Bristly Cutworm Moth, Kidney Spotted "Mamestra"
  • Melanchra adjunctaHitched Arches
  • Sparganothis unifascianaOne-Lined Sparganothis
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
13BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Silene

  • Calcarius lapponicusLapland Longspur
  • Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
  • Haemorhous mexicanusHouse Finch
  • Junco hyemalisDark-eyed Junco
  • Lagopus leucuraWhite-tailed Ptarmigan
  • Leucosticte atrataBlack Rosy-Finch
  • Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
  • Melospiza melodiaSong Sparrow
  • Melozone crissalisCalifornia Towhee
  • Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
Show all 13
  • Spinus psaltriaLesser Goldfinch
  • Zonotrichia atricapillaGolden-crowned Sparrow
  • Zonotrichia leucophrysWhite-crowned Sparrow
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Caryophyllaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
  • Height · “8–30 inches” · Minnesota Wildflowers
  • Life cycle · “Annual” · Minnesota Wildflowers
  • Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as

Night Flowering Catchfly; Sticky Campion

Conservation status

Virginia rankSNA
Global rankGNR
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources