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Ragged Robin

Ragged Robin

Silene flos-cuculi

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How common: Common

Ragged Robin is a perennial wildflower known for its shredded‑looking pink blooms. It grows in damp places such as wet meadows, ditches, and lakesides across much of Europe and western Asia, and has been introduced to parts of North America and New Zealand. Its delicate, airy flower clusters stand out in midsummer.

Did you know?

  • The name refers to the cuckoo: in many places it blooms when cuckoos call.
  • Flowers are usually pink, but white forms sometimes occur.

About the species

Identification

Upright plant 30–70 cm tall, sometimes taller. Stems are slender, slightly sticky and rough to the touch. Leaves are narrow with smooth edges, in pairs along the stem; a small tuft often sits at the base. Flower clusters are airy. Each flower is rose pink (rarely white), with five petals cut deeply into four narrow strips, giving a ragged look. The small tube behind the petals has dark reddish‑brown stripes. After flowering it forms a dry capsule that opens at the top. Easy to tell from other pink campions, whose petals are not split into thin strips. Flowers in Finland in June–July.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

shore

Flowering

Jun–Jul

About the habitat

Favors wet ground in sun or light shade, such as springs, wet meadows, ditches, and river or lake shores. Common in most of Finland except the far north; rarer in Kainuu and North Ostrobothnia, and farther north only occasional. Native in the south and center, farther north mostly introduced.

Sources

Photo: Susan Marley, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/5938318863

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Kulttuuriympäristöt: niityt, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38106

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38106

Text: Pinkka: A Pohjolan kasveja - Saxifraga-Silene, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38106

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niittyk%C3%A4enkukka

See also