Pest plant - Bladder campion
- Fact sheet
- August 2015
Bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) is a perennial plant which inhibits crop and pasture growth. It spreads by seed; and via root fragments in soil, on machinery, or as a contaminant of hay and seed.
Description
- perennial herb up to 800mm high
- leaves are lance shaped, 30-80mm long, 10-30mm wide, light green to whitish with a fine waxy or powdery coating
- flowers have white petals protruding from a green bladder like tube (calyx), 15mm long
- the fruit is a brownish globular capsule within the calyx
- roots are short and thick with creeping laterals.
Why is it a problem?
- Bladder campion is a ‘difficult to kill’ perennial plant
- the dense patches formed by the plant inhibit crop and pasture growth, reducing yields and available pasture
- the deep root system enables the plant to stay green and flowering while many other plants have dried off
- it may be preferred by stock, particularly sheep, during this period.
Distribution
- Mallee - isolated infestations
- Yorke Peninsula - isolated infestations
Ecology
- germinates at any time of the year, although peak periods of germination are in spring and autumn
- the majority of flowering is usually in spring and early summer.
How it spreads
- wind scatters the seed from the capsule close to the parent plant
- seed is also transported in mud, either on the hooves of animals or on machinery, or via contaminated seed and hay products
- a secondary means of spread is by movement of root fragments, principally through cultivation.