Burke: Silene stellata vs. Silene noctiflora

	Silene stellata	Silene noctiflora
		night-flowering catchfly
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 stellata	Silene noctiflora
Flowering time		June-August
Habitat		Grain fields and waste areas.
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	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]
Origin		Introduced from Europe
Conservation status		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. noctiflora, 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. oregana, S. paradoxa, S. parryi, S. scouleri, S. seelyi, S. spaldingii, S. suksdorfii, S. vulgaris
Web links	Local Web sites: 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 stellata

Silene noctiflora

night-flowering catchfly

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.