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Silene firma

Common name:	Catchfly	Family:	Caryophyllaceae
Author:	Siebold.&Zucc.	Botanical references:	58, 74, 266
Synonyms:	Melandrium firmum ((Siebold.&Zucc.)Rohrb.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - China and Japan.
Habitat:	Pebbly river banks, sandy and pebbly shores and shrub thickets[74]. Mountain grassland and scrub throughout China[266].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Melandrium firmum[G]
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	firma = strong;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Pink family

Physical Characteristics

Annual/Biennial growing to 0.9m. . It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

Young plant - cooked[105, 177].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Contraceptive; Emmenagogue; Galactogogue; Hepatic.

The leaves and stems contain several medically active constituents including saponins and flavonoids[279]. They have been shown to promote the production of drug-metabolizing enzymes in the liver[279]. The plant is said to be contraceptive, emmenagogue and galactogogue[279]. It is used in Korea in the treatment of gonorrhoea, to stimulate the milk and the menstrual flow, and also as a contraceptive[279].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

W have very little information on this species, though judging by its wide range it should be hardy in most of Britain[K]. It is likely to prefer a well-drained moisture retentive light loamy soil in a sunny position[1, 200].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ. It is quite likely that an early autumn sowing will overwinter successfully to produce a larger plant in the spring and summer[K].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for the family Caryophyllaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[58] Ohwi. G. Flora of Japan. (English translation) Smithsonian Institution 1965
The standard work. Brilliant, but not for the casual reader.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Silene+firma
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Silene+firma

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.