Burke: Silene noctiflora vs. Silene latifolia

	Silene noctiflora	Silene latifolia
	night-flowering catchfly	white campion, evening catchfly
Habit	Annual with 1-3 simple or branched stems, 2-6 dm. tall, stiff-hairy throughout and glandular-pubescent above.	Stout, dioecious perennial from a branched crown, the several simple stems 5-11 dm. tall, stiff-hairy below and glandular in the inflorescence.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, ovate-lanceolate to elliptic-oblanceolate, 5-12 cm. long and up to 4 cm. broad, the lower ones long-petiolate, the upper sub-sessile.	Basal leaves petiolate, lanceolate to oblanceolate, up to 10 cm. long and 2 cm. broad; cauline leaves 5-9 pairs, slightly reduced upward and becoming sessile.
Flowers	Flowers few to several in an open inflorescence, the pedicels 3-30 mm. long; calyx 5u00e2u20acu201clobed, tubular, 15 mm. long at flowering, much enlarged in fruit, 10-nerved, the lobes lance-linear, 5-9 mm. long; petals 5, white to pinkish, glabrous, the claw 12-25 mm. long, auriculate above, the blade 7-10 mm. long, bi-lobed less than half the length; blade appendages 2, 0.5-1.5 mm. long and broad; stamens 10; styles 3. Flowers open at dusk.	Flowers several in an open, spreading, leafy-bracteate inflorescence; calyx 15-20 mm. long and tubular, the 5 lobes narrow; the calyx of the pistillate flowers inflated, 20-nerved; corolla white; claw of the petals equaling the calyx, broadened and auriculate at the junction with the blade; the blade 7-10 mm. long, narrowly obovate, deeply lobed, with 2 small, triangular appendages; styles 5; stamens 10, fused at the base, forming a tube.
Fruits	Capsule 3-celled.	Capsule 1-celled, ovoid, opening by 5 bifid, spreading valves.

	Silene noctiflora	Silene latifolia
Flowering time	June-August	May-August
Habitat	Grain fields and waste areas.	Roadsides, fields, meadows, pastures, irrigation ditches, forest edge, thickets, wastelots, and other disturbed open areas, often where moist.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Yukon Territory to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Widely distributed on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Europe	Introduced from Europe
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	S. acaulis, S. antirrhina, S. bernardina, S. conoidea, S. csereii, S. dichotoma, S. dioica, S. douglasii, S. gallica, S. latifolia, S. menziesii, S. oregana, S. paradoxa, S. parryi, S. scouleri, S. seelyi, S. spaldingii, S. suksdorfii, S. vulgaris	S. acaulis, S. antirrhina, S. bernardina, S. conoidea, S. csereii, S. dichotoma, S. dioica, S. douglasii, S. gallica, S. menziesii, S. noctiflora, S. oregana, S. paradoxa, S. parryi, S. scouleri, S. seelyi, S. spaldingii, S. suksdorfii, S. vulgaris
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Silene noctiflora

Silene latifolia

night-flowering catchfly

white campion, evening catchfly

Habit

Annual with 1-3 simple or branched stems, 2-6 dm. tall, stiff-hairy throughout and glandular-pubescent above.

Stout, dioecious perennial from a branched crown, the several simple stems 5-11 dm. tall, stiff-hairy below and glandular in the inflorescence.

Leaves

Leaves opposite, ovate-lanceolate to elliptic-oblanceolate, 5-12 cm. long and up to 4 cm. broad, the lower ones long-petiolate, the upper sub-sessile.

Basal leaves petiolate, lanceolate to oblanceolate, up to 10 cm. long and 2 cm. broad;

cauline leaves 5-9 pairs, slightly reduced upward and becoming sessile.

Flowers

Flowers few to several in an open inflorescence, the pedicels 3-30 mm. long;

calyx 5u00e2u20acu201clobed, tubular, 15 mm. long at flowering, much enlarged in fruit, 10-nerved, the lobes lance-linear, 5-9 mm. long;

petals 5, white to pinkish, glabrous, the claw 12-25 mm. long, auriculate above, the blade 7-10 mm. long, bi-lobed less than half the length;

blade appendages 2, 0.5-1.5 mm. long and broad;

stamens 10;

styles 3. Flowers open at dusk.

Flowers several in an open, spreading, leafy-bracteate inflorescence;

calyx 15-20 mm. long and tubular, the 5 lobes narrow; the calyx of the pistillate flowers inflated, 20-nerved;

corolla white;

claw of the petals equaling the calyx, broadened and auriculate at the junction with the blade; the blade 7-10 mm. long, narrowly obovate, deeply lobed, with 2 small, triangular appendages;

styles 5;

stamens 10, fused at the base, forming a tube.

Fruits

Capsule 3-celled.

Capsule 1-celled, ovoid, opening by 5 bifid, spreading valves.