Silene indica Roxb.

Herbs perennial, 25--50 cm tall. Roots robust, root crown lignified, producing stoloniform stems. Stems caespitose, erect or ascending, gray-green, simple or branched, hairy, apically glandular hairy. Basal leaves withered early; cauline leaves 4--8 pairs, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 2--4(--4.5) × 1--2 cm, hirtellous, glandular hairy, margin ciliate, base cuneate, half clasping, apex acute. Flowers 7--20(--30). Pedicel elongated. Flowers slightly nutant, erect in late anthesis. Calyx campanulate, slightly inflated, 1.1--1.8 cm × 6--12 mm, umbilicate at base, open at apex, glandular hairy; longitudinal veins dark violet or green, densely hirtellous-glandular hairy; calyx teeth broadly triangular, 3--4 mm, margin membranous, glandular ciliate, apex obtuse. Androgynophore 2--3 mm, weakly hairy. Petals exserted 3--4 mm beyond calyx, green or violet-brown; claws cuneate, 9--11 mm, narrowly auriculate, glabrous or sparsely villous in early anthesis; limbs nearly orbicular, ca. 4 mm, bifid or deeply so, lobes entire or with obtuse laciniae; coronal scales round, scarious, with small round teeth at apex, 0.5--1 mm. Stamens exserted; filaments villous at base. Styles 4 or 5. Capsule ovoid, 1.1--1.2 cm × 7--8 mm, 8--10-toothed. Seeds triangular-reniform, ca. 1 mm, with auriculate pit on two sides, abaxially with prominent tubercles. Fl. Jul, fr. Aug.

S Xizang [Bhutan, India, Kashmir, Nepal].

Mountains, mountain scrub; 2300--3900 m.

Silene indica, the Indian campion, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native to northern Pakistan, the Himalayas, and southern Tibet. It typically grows at elevations of 2,300 to 3,900 m (7,500 to 12,800 ft).