Silene dichotoma Ehrh. (E and SE-Eur.) – A rather rare and probably decreasing, very locally more or less naturalized alien. First collected between Merelbeke and Ledeberg (Gent) in an oat field in 1860. Between the 19th and the first half of the 20th century recorded as a weed of arable land in many, widely scattered localities (and, as such, perhaps more or less locally established for some time). Possibly for the last time collected in a Secale field in Ottenbourg in 1953. Furthermore frequently recorded on waste land, dumps, etc. Best known from some coal mining spoil heaps in Wallonia where it has been recorded since at least 1977 from Jemeppe-sur-Meuse (still extremely abundant in 1994). Also reported as naturalized since ca. 1950 from Souvret (Lebeau 1973). Similar records are available from coal mining spoil heaps in Limburg (for instance Waterschei where Silene dichotoma looks perfectly established (as seen in 2013). In the past decades much decreasing. Recent records are related with grain importation, for instance in a sandy road verge in the port of Gent in 2003 and 2011.
Silene dichotoma preferably grows in dry, sun-exposed, sandy or gravelly habitats.
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Selected literature:
Lebeau J. (1973) Excursion du 18 août 1973 dans la région au nord-ouest de Charleroi à Souvret et Goutroux. Nat. Mosana 26(4): 132-135.
Lichvar R.W. (1979) Silene dichotoma Ehrh. (Caryophyllaceae). Madrono 26(4): 188.