Silene ornata

Silene ornata, illustration in The Botanical Magazine, Volume 11, Plate 382 (1797).

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Caryophyllales
Classification System: APG IV Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Diaphoretickes Cladus: CAM Cladus: Archaeplastida Regnum: Plantae Cladus: Angiosperms Cladus: Eudicots Cladus: Core eudicots Ordo: Caryophyllales

Familia: Caryophyllaceae
Tribus: Sileneae
Genus: Silene
Subgenus: S. subg. Silene
Sectio: S. sect. Silene
Species: Silene ornata

Name

Silene ornata Aiton, Hortus Kew. 2: 96 (1789).

• Typus: South Africa, without precise locality, cultivated at Kew in 1774 from seed introduced by Francis Masson, Masson s.n. (Holotype: BM 000573045, isotype: BM 000573046).

Synonyms

• Homotypic
  • Melandrium ornatum (Aiton) Asch. ex Rohrb., Monogr. Silene: 231 (1869), as Melandryum.
• Heterotypic
  • Silene bellidifolia Thunb., Prodr. Pl. Cap.: 81 (1794), nom. illeg. homonym. post.

Distribution

Native distribution areas:
Continental: Africa Regional: Southern Africa Cape Provinces. References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition

References

Primary references

• Aiton, W. 1789. Hortus Kewensis; or, a catalogue of the plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. Vol. II. Octandria–Monadelphia. 460 pp., tt. 7–10. George Nicol, London. BHL Reference page. 

Additional references

• Manning, J.C. & Goldblatt, P. 2012. A taxonomic revision of the southern African native and naturalized species of Silene L. (Caryophyllaceae). Bothalia 42(2): 147–186. DOI: 10.4102/abc.v42i2.14 . Reference page. 

Links

• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2026. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. Taxon: Silene ornata. Accessed: 2026 April 22.
• Govaerts, R. et al. 2026. Silene ornata in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2026 February 25. Reference page. 
• Hassler, M. 2026. World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. . Silene ornata. Accessed: 21 April 2026. Reference page. 
• International Plant Names Index. 2026. Silene ornata. Published online. Accessed: 25 February 2026. Reference page.
• Tropicos.org 2026. Silene ornata. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 25 February 2026. Reference page.

Vernacular names

• English: Crimson Catchfly

For more multimedia, look at Silene ornata on Wikimedia Commons.