Silene gallica Small-flowered Catchfly

Silene gallica © Phil Wilson

A neat campion with small white flowers and sticky stems and leaves, it grows on sandy soil, preferring open places such as margins of arable fields, as well as sandy seashores.

Once scattered throughout Britain, it has declined dramatically in recent decades and can now only be found in Wales and the south and west of England, mainly by the coast. Although not threatened in Europe as a whole, it has almost gone from northern Europe.

The main reasons for its decline are modern agricultural practices, especially the use of herbicides and fertilisers, the development of highly productive crop varieties, and the loss of field margins. Tourist developments on the Welsh coast also continue to threaten its sites there.

Classified as Endangered.