Cucubalus baccifer Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 414. 1753; C. baccifer var. angustifolius L. H. Zhou; C. baccifer var. cavaleriei H. Léveillé; C. baccifer var. japonicus Miquel.

Herbs perennial. Roots white, long fusiform, cross section yellow. Stems and branches spreading, 50--150 cm. Petiole 3--5 mm; leaf blade ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or narrowly elliptic, 1.5--5(--13) × 0.8--2(--4) cm, papery, both surfaces hairy at veins, base attenuate, margin entire, ciliate, apex acuminate. Flower slightly nutant. Pedicel hairy. Calyx broadly campanulate, 9--11 mm; calyx teeth ovate-triangular, nearly as long as tube, ciliolate, revolute in fruit. Androgynophore ca. 1.5 mm. Petals oblanceolate, ca. 15 × 2.5 mm; claw long, narrow; limb 2-fid. Stamens and styles included. Fruit black, globose, 6--8 mm, fleshy, irregularly dehiscent. Seeds black, ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. Jun--Aug, fr. Jul--Oct. 2n = 24.

Wu Zhengyi (editor’s note) prefers to treat this species as a distinct, monotypic genus ( Cucubalus ), on account of its fleshy, baccate, irregularly dehiscent fruit, which is unique in the Caryophyllaceae.

Silene baccifera is used medicinally.

Forest margins, scrub, grasslands. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, Japan, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Korea, Nepal, Russia, Sikkim; Europe].