Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several plants of the genera Silene and Lychnis, native chiefly to the Northern Hemisphere and having white, pink, red, or purplish flowers and sticky stems and calyces on which small insects may become stuck.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The popular name of Species of plants belonging to the genus Silene, and of Lychnis Viscaria, given on account of their glutinous stems, which sometimes retain small insects. The sleepy catch-fly is Silene antirrhina.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) A plant with the joints of the stem, and sometimes other parts, covered with a viscid secretion to which small insects adhere. The species of Silene are examples of the catchfly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of several unrelated plants that have sticky leaves on which flies become stuck; especially, the silenes or campions

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun mostly perennial herbs with sticky stems that catch insects; widespread in north temperate zone
  • noun any plant of the genus Silene

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Petunias and potatoes, for instance, have sticky hairs that trap insects, and several species of campion flowers have the common name catchfly for the same reason.

    FOXNews.com 2009

  • Petunias and potatoes, for instance, have sticky hairs that trap insects, and several species of campion flowers have the common name catchfly for the same reason.

    FOXNews.com 2009

  • Plants like petunias and potatoes have sticky hairs that trap insects, and some species of campion have the common name catchfly for the same reason.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • Plants like petunias and potatoes have sticky hairs that trap insects, and some species of campion have the common name catchfly for the same reason.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • Petunias and potatoes, for instance, have sticky hairs that trap insects, and several species of campion flowers have the common name catchfly for the same reason.

    Latest Articles 2009

  • The sticky catchfly is now the floral emblem of Edinburgh.

    Plantwatch: high summer comes early 2011

  • Its close relative, the sticky catchfly, is also in flower, and protects itself with tiny drops of glue to keep off small bugs.

    Plantwatch: high summer comes early 2011

  • Eleven plant species listed as threatened in the United States 'statutes are found in the park; Palmer amsonia Amsonia palmeri, goldenweed Haplopappus salicinus, Draba asprella var. kaibensis, plains cactus Pediocactus bradyi, scouler catchfly Silene rectiramea, phacelia Phacelia filiformis, wild buckwheats Eriogonum darrovii, E. thompsonae var. atwoodi and E. zionis var. coccineum, primrose Primula hunnewellii and clute penstemon Penstemon clutei.

    Grand Canyon National Park, United States 2009

  • Other nationally important terrestrial vegetation species include the early spider orchid Ophrys sphegodes, the Early Gentian Gentianella anglica, the Nottingham catchfly Silene nutans and Wild cabbage Brassica oleracea var. oleracea

    Dorset and East Devon Coast, United Kingdom 2008

  • Ayla noticed the fragrant scent of pink catchfly, just beginning to open their blooms.

    The Plains of Passage Auel, Jean M. 1990

Comments

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  • The flowering plant Silene armeria (family Caryophyllaceae).

    August 18, 2010