Ragged-Robin - Silene flos-cuculi

Alternative names
Ragged Robin, Lychnis flos-cuculi
Description

Medium to tall, roughly hairy plant often branched. Basal leaves oblong to spoon shaped, stalked. Stem leaves linear lanceolate. Flowers pale to bright purplish pink (occasionally white) 30 to 40 mm, the petals cut into four narrow pointed segments.

Identification difficulty
Recording advice

Photo of the plant in habitat (RPR)

Habitat

Damp places, wet meadows, marshes, wet woodland.

When to see it

May to August.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Fairly frequent throughout Britain.

VC55 Status

Frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland, but declining due to habitat loss and degradation.

In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi and Evans 1988) it was found in 245 of the 617 tetrads, and in 33 tetrads in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger 1971).

It is listed on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward 2022) because of its threat-level

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Ragged-Robin, Ragged Robin
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Caryophyllales
Family:
Caryophyllaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
157
First record:
29/05/2005 (Gamble, David)
Last record:
18/06/2023 (Willis, Jill)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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