Above: Royal Catchfly in wildflower garden along bike path at Glenway Street intersection in Madison, Wisconsin (7/19/22).
Royal Catchfly - Silene regia (introduced/adventive)
NOTE: Adventive means introduced but not fully naturalized. According to the UW-Madison Wisconsin State Herbarium website, Royal Catchfly is currently only found in Dane County. It is even considered a rare plant in Illinois.
Royal Catchfly grows 2 - 3' tall. The bright red/scarlet star-shaped flowers have 5 narrow petals that flare outward from a long tubular calyx.
Royal Catchfly is one of a small number of red-flowered plants native to the Midwest, and one of very few, red-flowered, prairie plants.
The flowers are pollinated by the ruby-throated hummingbird
Royal Catchfly blooms from late June to August.
For more information on Royal Catchfly, visit Wikipedia.
Or, visit the UW-Madison Wisconsin State Herbarium website page about Royal Catchfly - Silene regia.
Or, visit the USDA Forest Service "Plant of the Week" website page about Royal Catchfly.