Burke: Silene noctiflora vs. Silene paradoxa

	Silene noctiflora	Silene paradoxa
	night-flowering catchfly	Silene paradoxa
Habit	Annual with 1-3 simple or branched stems, 2-6 dm. tall, stiff-hairy throughout and glandular-pubescent above.
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.
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.
Fruits	Capsule 3-celled.

	Silene noctiflora	Silene paradoxa
Flowering time	June-August	June-August
Habitat	Grain fields and waste areas.	Serpentine and ultramafic substrates in the mountains.
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]	Occurring on Three Sisters Mountain in Whatcom County in Washington, where intentionally introduced and persists; not known elsewhere in North America.
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. latifolia, S. menziesii, S. noctiflora, S. oregana, 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: WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Silene noctiflora

Silene paradoxa

night-flowering catchfly

Silene paradoxa

Habit

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

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.

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.

Fruits

Capsule 3-celled.

Silene noctiflora

Silene paradoxa

Flowering time

June-August

Habitat

Grain fields and waste areas.

Serpentine and ultramafic substrates in the mountains.

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]

Occurring on Three Sisters Mountain in Whatcom County in Washington, where intentionally introduced and persists; not known elsewhere in North America.

Origin

Introduced from Europe

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa