white campion, Grave flower, Flower of the dead, White cockle, vening Lychnis, white riding hood, mother-die, thunder flower, lady's candle, white robin, and cow rattle

White Campion History and Folkore

White campion is native Europe and Asia and  has naturalized in many other areas, including the United States.

White campion is sometimes called grave flower or flower of the dead in England as it is often found in the soil above and around gravesites.

There are a number of prohibitions against picking white campion in the British isles with various explanations. It is sacred to the fae, and helps them hide. So they don’t like it when you pick it. In Wales, picking white campion causes thunder. If you pick white campion, your mother will die.

I had originally assumed that the Silene genus name came from the Greek moon Goddess Selene, a nod to the night-blooming habit of many species in the genus. However, I have been further given to understand (from Woodland Trust) that it actually derives from the Greek Sialon, meaning saliva, referencing the secretions along the stems of some of those species. While another source (wildflower favors) says that it is named for Silenus a companion and teacher of Dionysus who was either a satyr or a similar creature that was more horselike than goatlike. He is associated with music, prophetic ecstasy and happy drunks.

White Campion in the Garden

White campion is a common garden weed in the Northeast and Northweast United States. It is a member of the pink family (Caryophylaceae), related to carnations. It starts its life as a spring green rosette of fuzzy lanceolate leaves usually in disturbed and open soil, like that of my carefully tended garden. It is a biennial, so it can stay in this phase for a full year before sending up stems and flowering. Sometimes it doesn’t and goes for it early. I am not sure if weather conditions, like unseasonal cold snaps cause this or what.

As it matures, forked stems rise up with shorter lanceolate leaves in opposite pairs along the stem. The white flowers occur in clusters at the top of the stem. They have five white, notched petals emerging above the distinctive balloon-like calyx. (Not quite as baloon-like as that of its close cousin bladder campion Silene vulgaris, which is also less fuzzy). The leaves, stem and calyx are covered with hairs. The flowers are diecious; the males’ flowers have 10 pale yellow stamens and the female plants flowers have puffier calyx with more veins. The flowers open in the evening and close early the next day. Campion is generally pollinated by night-blooming moths. After pollination, they give way to urn-shaped seed capsules containing up to 24,000 seeds. You can hear them rattling around in there if you give it a shake.

Night-flowering catchfly (Silene noctiflora) is a similar plant, with similar blooming habits that can be found in a similar habitat. It has narrower, perfect flowers and sticky hairs.

White campion can interbreed with red campion (Silene dioica) to produce pink flowers.

White Campion prefer well-drained and full sun

White campion prefers neutral to alkaline soils and can be considered an indicator that the PH isn’t too low. It prefers well-drained soil, in a sunny position. Ie. my carefully tended garden. It isn’t unattractive, it smells nice at night and the pollinators love it, so I don’t begrudge it that much in the lawn or flower bed and they are a nice addition to a moon garden, due to their nocturnal blooming habits.  But it is important to pluck the flowers once they are spent to prevent rampant re-seeding and I do try to keep it out of the annual vegetable gardens because it can harbor diseases that also affect spinach, beets and chard.

White Campion in the Kitchen

White campion is edible, though it contains bitter saponins so it should be cooked. The leaves should be harvested before it flowers. Blanching can reduce the bitterness.

The flowers can be eaten raw and are interesting additions to salads. They should be plucked when they are fresh as once they start to fade or seed capsules start to form inside, they aren’t as good.

Its closest lookalike, bladder campion, S. vulgaris, is also edible and tastier. It’s less fuzzy for starters.

Silene latifolia or Silene alba for Healing

White Campion Magick

White campion is associated with the dead and night. The blossoms, picked when brand new and dried, can be added to oils, waters or potpourri mixtures or burned in ceremonies intended to communicate with the dead and to help the practitioner open up to receiving advice and other messages from the spirit realm.

It is also associated with attracting a lover. The plants, as mentioned, are male or female. Choose a flower that is of the gender you best wish to attract, dry it, and add it to a sachet with any other ingredients you like for a drawing spell. Keep it on you, or under your mattress.

This herb is also useful in spells intended to raise storms. You can make a rattle of the seed pods if you, like me, like to dance your weather work. If you like to use knot work for weather work, pluck the flowers retaining long stems, several tied in a bundle, take it to a high place and untie it and scatter them to release the storm. And also dance. You should always dance in a storm, I believe that firmly.

This herb corresponds to the planet Saturn and the element of Water.