Catchfly

Catchfly, the name of the genus Silene, of which many species produce a sticky secretion on the calyx, the joints of the stem, &c., which prevents the access of ants and other creeping insects to the honey, so preserving it for the bees or other flying insects by which alone cross fertilisation is effected. Other Caryophyllaceæ, notably Lychnis Viscaria, possess the same means of defence. The Nottingham Catchfly is Silene nutans. The unrelated Dionaea muscipula is also sometimes called the Carolina Catchfly. See DIONÆA.