Red Campion

It's a really good year for Red Campion  (Silene dioica) there are large patches of them all along the road verge not far from home.

(the camera seems to turn them from dark pink to light purple for some reason)

 At primary school we had  a nature table and when we got to be the oldest girls in school we had to find names and write labels for the things brought in, that and going for walks up to the woods and round the fields taught us all the names of the wild plants to be found but I don't remember Red Campion from childhood just the white variety.

Red Campion has much folklore surrounding it, often associate with fairies, snakes, and even death. In some traditions it was believed picking red campion would bring bad luck and in other places it was associated with fairies guarding honey store or protecting them from discovery. The plant's seed were used medicinally for snakebites.

It's very good as a source of nectar for insects and attracts pollinators.

And as usual with the wild plants we have here, there is a picture from the Complete Book of Flower Fairies by Cecile Mary Barker to include.

There is always a poem or song to go with each of the Flower Fairy illustrations.

Here's a cheerful somebody,

By the woodland's edge;

Campion the many-named,

Robin-in-the-hedge.

Coming when the Bluebells come,

When they're gone he stays,

(Round Robin, Red Robin)

All the summer days.

Soldiers' buttons, Robin Flower,

In the lane or wood;

Robin Redbreast, Red Jack,

Yes, and Robin Hood.

Cecily Mary Barker doesn't give any mention to White Campion so perhaps that wasn't so common back in the 1920's, then maybe the red vanished through the 60's, being replaced by white, with red making a comeback in the 21st Century. Someone ought to do some sort of scientific study to find out why!

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