silene

noun

any plant of the large perennial genus Silene, with mostly red or pink flowers; many, esp S. or Agrostemma coeli-rosa, are grown as garden plants: family CarophyllaceaeSee also campion

Word Origin

New Latin from Latin silenus viscaria

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Examples from the Web for silene

Historical Examples

One of the best cheap bedders is Pink Catchfly (Silene pendula).
Last Words
Juliana Horatia Ewing
We found a new species of floweret of the genus Silene, but unknown to us.
Audubon and his Journals, Volume I (of 2)
Maria R. Audubon
At last the insect wearies and leaves the Mantis hanging to the Silene.
More Hunting Wasps
J. Henri Fabre
Unguiculate (clawed) petal of a Silene; with a two-parted crown.
The Elements of Botany
Asa Gray
The corolla shows greater decrease in size in Melandryum and Silene, in diffuse light, though the relative form is maintained.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, December 1898
Various

silene

Word Origin

Examples from the Web for silene

Historical Examples

One of the best cheap bedders is Pink Catchfly (Silene pendula).

We found a new species of floweret of the genus Silene, but unknown to us.

At last the insect wearies and leaves the Mantis hanging to the Silene.

Unguiculate (clawed) petal of a Silene; with a two-parted crown.

The corolla shows greater decrease in size in Melandryum and Silene, in diffuse light, though the relative form is maintained.