About Silene conica L.
Silene conica L. is a flowering plant species in the Caryophyllaceae family, commonly called striped corn catchfly and sand catchfly. It is an annual plant that grows in dunes and sandy soils, and is widespread across Europe and western Asia. This species exhibits gynomonoecy: it produces mostly self-compatible hermaphroditic flowers, with occasional male-sterile flowers. Like other members of Silene section Conoimorpha, S. conica is easily recognizable by its bright pink petals and the prominent parallel veins on its calyx. Unlike most flowering plant species, S. conica has a very rapid mitochondrial mutation rate, and holds the record for the largest identified mitochondrial genome at 11.3 Mb.
