Silene is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae.

Silene species attract butterflies to the garden and are used as food plants by the larvae of many lepidopterans. Silene is the feminine form of Silenus, a Greek woodland deity. If the related genera Lychnis, Melandrium and Viscaria are included in Silene, it contains about 700 species. Silene armeria, commonly known as the Sweet William Catchfly, likes full sun and partial sun with moist to dry soils. The name comes from the way in which small insects are trapped by the sticky sap exuded onto the stem. However it is not currently regarded as a carnivorous plant, though it has been identified as a carnivorous plant in the past.