Silene portensis Care

Annual plant, a little pubescent at the base, with a taproot, stem 10-30 cm, with slender branches, lying down, slimy at the top.

The recumbent stems bear linear leaves. The deeply indented petals are white on the inside, pink on the outside. The calyx glabrous, traversed by red veins, ends in five rounded teeth. The carpophore, hairy, is longer than the ovary.

• leaves all linear, acute, canaliculate
• flowers white above, reddish below, erect, long-stalked, in a very loose cluster
• fruit-bearing calyx elongated club-shaped, not contracted, nor umbilicated, glabrous, with 10 veins, rounded teeth
• bifid petals, crowned with short, pointed scales, with a non-auriculate tab
• subglobular capsule, 1-2 times shorter than the pubescent carpophore.

This plant might be poisonous

How to get rid of: After a drenching rain, stage a rewarding weeding session by equipping yourself with gloves, a sitting pad, and a trug or tarp for collecting the corpses. As you head out the door, slip an old table fork into your back pocket because there’s nothing better for twisting out tendrils of henbit or chickweed. When going after bigger thugs, use a fishtail weeder to pry up taprooted weeds, like dandelion or dock.