White campion or Red campion: how to tell them apart?

White campion and Red campion look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.

⚡ The quick answer
White campion
White campion
Silene latifolia
Red campion
Red campion
Silene dioica

The two campions share the same floral architecture with an inflated, hairy calyx and separate sexes on different plants — and where they grow together, they readily hybridise, producing intermediate pink flowers that are hard to call. Apart from hybrids, colour remains the best clue: pure white in white campion, bright pink in red campion; the white flowers also open mainly in the evening and are strongly scented, unlike those of red campion, which are active by day.

🍃 Leaves
Opposite, ovate, hairy, the lower ones grouped in a rosette
Opposite, ovate, hairy, rosette at the base
🌸 Flowers
White, with 5 deeply notched petals, inflated, hairy and glandular calyx; open mainly in the evening and then become strongly scented; sexes separate on different plants, as in red campion
Bright pink, five notched petals, sexes separate on different plants
🍎 Fruits
Ovoid capsule opening by 10 upright teeth
Small capsule opening by 10 recurved teeth
🪵 Bark
Short-lived perennial herbaceous plant (sometimes biennial), entirely hairy and glandular, upright stems
Perennial herbaceous plant with upright, hairy stems.
📏 Size
30 to 70 cm tall
40 to 80 cm tall
🗺️ Habitat
Waste ground, track verges, banks, rubble, unmanaged meadows
Woodland edges, hedges, cool meadows
⚠️ Toxicity
No notable toxicity known.
No notable toxicity known.
🔎 And from the Red campion side
The two campions share the same floral architecture with an inflated, hairy calyx and separate sexes on different plants — and where they grow together, they readily hybridise, producing intermediate pink flowers that are hard to call. Apart from hybrids, colour remains the best clue: bright pink in red campion, pure white in white campion; the flowers of white campion open mainly in the evening and are strongly scented, unlike those of red campion, which are active by day.
🌿 Go further

Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.

View the profile: White campionView the profile: Red campion

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.