Silene apetala

Σιληνή η απέταλη

Etymology of Silene apetala: Linnaeus named the Silene genus in 1753 for "Σιληνός" [Silinos, Silenus in Latin], the drunken foster-father of the Greek god of wine, Bacchus. Linnaeus was aware that mythological Silenus was often covered with foam from his drunkenness, and obviously, the sticky secretions of many of the Silenes were good parallelism to name the genus as such. Today, we can't know with certainty where the name Σιληνός derives from. "Apetala" comes from the Modern Greek "απέταλη" [apetali], meaning "without petals", due to the frequent phenomenon of cleistogamy, when petals won't open (cleistogamy is a type of automatic self-pollination of certain plants that can propagate by using non-opening, self-pollinating flowers).

There are 31 Silene kinds (species and subspecies) in Cyprus's wild habitat (an additional 32nd is in gardens), of which three are mostly or entirely encountered in occupied northern Cyprus.

Silene apetala is a relatively uncommon plant in Cyprus, even though it is said to be found in all the districts. It grows up to an altitude of about 600 metres. The specimen of the pictures comes from Kapedes (Nicosia district). Its flowering period is approximately between January and May.