This is a very common and cheerful plant of the waysides and hedgerows. In Spring there are plenty of blues and yellows around but this provides a wonderful splash at the red end of the spectrum (which insects don't see as well). It is dioecious which means that there are separate male and female flowers instead of the usual arrangement of anther (male) and stigma (Female) on the same flower. In a mild winter it will continue to flower and in January 2012 there were a good number of fully flowering plants to be found.

Silene dioica is a very common plant in the England, Wales and Scotland except for the far north and north west. It is found on Shetland and the outer Hebrides but is not as common in Ireland particularly in the middle and the south west.

LHS: South Stack, Anglesey, 16th June 2004 RHS: St. Saviours, Guernsey, 16th April 2005

Added on December 2nd 2004, updated 8thn February 2012