Silene acaulis
Silene nachlingerae
moss campion, silène acaule
Jan's catchfly, Nachlinger's catchfly, Nevada catchfly
subscapose, with (1–)2–3(–4) pairs of leaves, 6–25 cm, much reduced above base, retrorsely puberulent, eglandular.
erect, leafy proximally, 3–6(–15) cm, old leaves persistent at base.
mostly basal, densely crowded and imbricate, sessile;
blade 1(–3)-veined, linear-subulate to lanceolate, 0.4–1(–1.5) cm × 0.8–1.5(–2) mm, margins cartilaginous, often ciliolate especially proximally, apex acute, glabrous to scabrous.
2 per node;
basal blades oblanceolate, spatulate, 1.4–4 cm × 2–5 mm, base ciliate, apex acute, subglabrous to retrorse-puberulent;
cauline shortly connate proximally, blade narrowly oblanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 0.5–3.5 cm × 1–2 mm, apex purple tinged, retrorse-puberulent, often sparsely so.
solitary flowers.
1–3(–4)-flowered, open.
2–40 mm.
erect, 1–4 times longer than fruiting calyx, retrorsely puberulent, without glandular hairs.
bisexual or unisexual, all plants having both staminate and pistillate flowers, others having only pistillate flowers, subsessile or borne singly on peduncle;
calyx 10-veined, lateral veins absent, tubular to campanulate, (5–)7–10 mm, herbaceous, margins often purple tinged, dentate, sometimes ciliate, ± scarious, glabrous, lobes lanceolate to ovate, 1–2 mm;
petals bright pink, rarely white, limb unlobed to shallowly 2-fid, 2.5–3.5 mm, base tapered into claw, auricles and appendages poorly developed;
stamens exserted in staminate flowers, not so or aborted in pistillate flowers;
styles 3.
calyx prominently 10-veined, cylindric, becoming narrowly ovoid, not inflated, not contracted proximally around carpophore, 6–11.5 × 3 mm in flower, broadening to ca. 5 mm in fruit, membranous, uniformly puberulent, without glandular hairs, veins parallel, green, with pale commissures, lobes triangular, 1–1.5 mm, margins narrowly membranous, apex purple-tipped;
corolla white, usually flushed with pink or purple towards apex, ligulate to ± oblanceolate, slightly longer than calyx, not clearly differentiated into claw and limb, unlobed to notched, auricles and appendages absent;
stamens equaling calyx;
styles 3, included in calyx.
3-locular, cylindric, equaling or to 2 times calyx, opening by 6 recurved teeth;
carpophore ca. 1 mm.
ellipsoid-ovoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 6 ascending teeth;
carpophore ca. 1 mm.
light brown, reniform, 0.8–1(–1.2) mm broad, dull, shallowly rugose.
rust colored, reniform, 0.7–1 mm, margins papillate;
papillae large, inflated.
= 24.
Silene acaulis
Silene nachlingerae
Silene acaulis is a variable species, and most workers have recognized infraspecific taxa in North America: subsp. acaulis (subsp. exscapa and subsp. arctica), which is predominantly arctic; and subsp. subacaulescens, which extends down the Rocky Mountains from Alaska to Arizona and New Mexico. In subsp. acaulis, the leaves are flat and short and the flowers are subsessile and smaller in size. Subspecies subacaulescens is typically a larger, less-compact plant with longer, narrower leaves and larger, pedunculate flowers. However, in many populations, these two variants are poorly differentiated, and in others both occur together, connected by intermediates.
Silene acaulis is widely distributed in arctic and alpine Europe.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Of conservation concern.
Silene nachlingerae is a small version of S. invisa, although the latter species has glabrous leaves. Both have the characteristic inflated (balloonlike) papillae around the outer edge of the seed.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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