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silène muflier, sleepy campion, sleepy catch fly, sleepy catchfly campion, sleepy silene

dusty-miller, lychnide coronaire, mullein pink, rose campion

Habit Plants annual; taproot slender. Plants perennial, grayish white-tomentose, eglandular; taproot slender to stout; caudex branched, slightly woody.
Stems

erect, simple or branched, slender, to 80 cm, subglabrous to retrorsely puberulent especially proximally, distal internodes frequently glutinous.

several, erect, branched distally, stout, 40–100 cm.

Leaves

2 per node;

blade with margins ciliate toward base, apex acute to obtuse;

basal blades oblanceolate, spatulate;

cauline narrowly oblanceolate to linear, 1–9 cm × 2–15 mm, scabrous or puberulent, rarely glabrous on both surfaces.

basal blade oblanceolate, spatulate, 5–10 cm × 10–25(–30) mm, margins entire, apex acute, apiculate, with tuft of white hairs;

cauline in 5–10 pairs, sessile, reduced distally, blade with both surfaces obscured by dense, silky, grayish-white tomentum.

Inflorescences

cymose, open, branches usually ascending, several- to many-flowered, 1-flowered in depauperate specimens.

with 1–several dichotomies, several-flowered, open, bracteate;

branches ascending, elongate;

bracts leaflike, 10–20 mm.

Pedicels

straight, stout, to 10 cm.

Flowers

mature calyx prominently 10-veined, campanulate to ovate, 5–9 × 3–5 mm, margins dentate, glabrous, veins parallel, with pale commissures;

lobes usually purple, triangular, acute, ca. 1 mm;

petals white, often suffused with dark red, rarely wholly dark red, limb ovate, usually 2-lobed, ca. 2.5 mm, slightly longer than calyx, rarely petals absent, claw narrow, appendages 0.1–0.4 mm;

stamens included;

styles 3;

stigmas included.

ca. 35 mm;

calyx thickly 10-veined, obovate, ca. 15 × 10 mm in fruit, margins dentate with 5 narrowly lanceolate lobes ca. 1/4 length of tube, tomentose;

corolla rich magenta-pink, sometimes white, clawed, claw equaling calyx, limb spreading horizontally, broadly obovate, shallowly 2-lobed, appendages 2, narrow, 2–4 mm;

stamens equaling claw;

stigmas 5, equaling claw.

Capsules

equaling calyx, opening by 6 teeth;

carpophore less than 1 mm.

equaling to tightly enclosed within calyx, obovate-elliptic, ca. 14 mm, opening by 5 spreading, lanceolate teeth;

carpophore ca. 2 mm.

Seeds

dull gray-black, reniform, 0.5–0.8 mm diam., finely papillate.

grayish brown, reniform-rotund, plump, 1–1.5 mm, coarsely verrucate.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Silene antirrhina

Silene coronaria

Phenology Flowering spring–late summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Dry, sandy or gravelly places, roadsides, fields, waste places, open woods, often appearing after burning Roadsides, fields, waste or rocky places
Elevation 0-2300 m (0-7500 ft) 0-300 m (0-1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; ON; QC; SK; Mexico; South America; adventive in Europe
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CT; ID; IL; IN; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; SC; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; NB; NS; ON; QC; Europe [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The six varieties and forms of Silene antirrhina noted above were named on the basis of stature and flower color, but none appear to be worthy of recognition. The species is very plastic, being greatly affected by moisture, exposure, and nutrients.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Silene coronaria is commonly cultivated and occasionally escapes.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 174. FNA vol. 5, p. 180.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene
Sibling taxa
S. acaulis, S. aperta, S. armeria, S. bernardina, S. bridgesii, S. campanulata, S. caroliniana, S. chalcedonica, S. conica, S. coniflora, S. conoidea, S. coronaria, S. csereii, S. dichotoma, S. dioica, S. douglasii, S. drummondii, S. flos-cuculi, S. gallica, S. grayi, S. hitchguirei, S. hookeri, S. invisa, S. involucrata, S. kingii, S. laciniata, S. latifolia, S. lemmonii, S. marmorensis, S. menziesii, S. nachlingerae, S. nivea, S. noctiflora, S. nuda, S. occidentalis, S. oregana, S. ostenfeldii, S. ovata, S. parishii, S. parryi, S. pendula, S. petersonii, S. plankii, S. polypetala, S. pseudatocion, S. rectiramea, S. regia, S. repens, S. rotundifolia, S. sargentii, S. scaposa, S. scouleri, S. seelyi, S. serpentinicola, S. sibirica, S. sorensenis, S. spaldingii, S. stellata, S. subciliata, S. suecica, S. suksdorfii, S. thurberi, S. uralensis, S. verecunda, S. virginica, S. viscaria, S. vulgaris, S. williamsii, S. wrightii
S. acaulis, S. antirrhina, S. aperta, S. armeria, S. bernardina, S. bridgesii, S. campanulata, S. caroliniana, S. chalcedonica, S. conica, S. coniflora, S. conoidea, S. csereii, S. dichotoma, S. dioica, S. douglasii, S. drummondii, S. flos-cuculi, S. gallica, S. grayi, S. hitchguirei, S. hookeri, S. invisa, S. involucrata, S. kingii, S. laciniata, S. latifolia, S. lemmonii, S. marmorensis, S. menziesii, S. nachlingerae, S. nivea, S. noctiflora, S. nuda, S. occidentalis, S. oregana, S. ostenfeldii, S. ovata, S. parishii, S. parryi, S. pendula, S. petersonii, S. plankii, S. polypetala, S. pseudatocion, S. rectiramea, S. regia, S. repens, S. rotundifolia, S. sargentii, S. scaposa, S. scouleri, S. seelyi, S. serpentinicola, S. sibirica, S. sorensenis, S. spaldingii, S. stellata, S. subciliata, S. suecica, S. suksdorfii, S. thurberi, S. uralensis, S. verecunda, S. virginica, S. viscaria, S. vulgaris, S. williamsii, S. wrightii
Synonyms S. antirrhina var. confinis, S. antirrhina var. depauperata, S. antirrhina var. divaricata, S. antirrhina var. laevigata, S. antirrhina var. subglaber, S. antirrhina var. vaccarifolia Agrostemma coronaria, Lychnis coronaria
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 419. (1753) (Linnaeus) Clairville: Man. Herbor. Suisse, 145. (1811)
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