Silene bernardina
Silene laciniata
mountain catchfly, Palmer's campion, Palmer's catchfly
cardinal catchfly, Indian pink, Mexican campion, Mexican pink, Mexican pink or campion
not much- branched, slender, (15–)30–60 cm, sparsely pubescent proximally, viscid-glandular distally.
1–several, straggling to erect, sometimes decumbent at base, simple or much-branched distally, 20–120 cm, puberulent or scabrous-pubescent, sometimes retrorse, often glandular distally, becoming glabrate proximally.
mostly basal;
blade linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, 2–8 cm × 2–6(–15) mm (including petiole), base tapered into slender petiole, apex acute to obtuse, subglabrous to glandular-pubescent on both surfaces;
cauline leaves to 4 pairs below inflorescence, narrower than basal leaves, blade usually linear but rarely elliptic-lanceolate.
sessile or narrowed at base into pseudopetiole, blade pubescent on both surfaces;
proximal with blade lanceolate and oblanceolate, broadest distally or distal often reduced, cauline longest near mid stem, blade linear to lanceolate or elliptic, 1.5–10 cm × 2–30 mm.
erect, with several short, ascending branches, few-flowered, open, bracteate, shortly pubescent and viscid-glandular;
bracts narrowly lanceolate, 3–10 mm, rigid.
from 1-flowered to simple dichotomy to compound and 3–5–many-flowered with elongate branches;
bracts small, linear-lanceolate, or resembling leaves.
elongate, much exceeding calyx.
calyx prominently 10-veined, broadly tubular, umbilicate, moderately or not clavate, narrowed around carpophore, lobed, 12–15 × 4–6 mm, thin and papery, with short glandular-viscid pubescence, veins parallel, usually red pigmented, with pale commissures;
lobes lanceolate, 2–4 mm, apex acute;
petals white, pink, or dingy red, 11/2–2 times calyx, claw equaling calyx, ciliate at base, limb obtriangular, 4–6 mm, deeply divided into 4 linear lobes, appendages 2, conspicuous, laciniate, 2–3 mm, apex rounded;
stamens slightly exserted;
filaments ciliate at base;
styles 3(–4), equaling or longer than stamens.
calyx green, 10-veined, broadly tubular, 12–25 × 4–8 mm in flower, narrower towards base, middle broadening to 6–13 mm in fruit, narrower at both ends, pubescent, glandular, lobes lanceolate, 2.5–5 mm, margins membranous or not, apex ± obtuse;
corolla scarlet, clawed, claw equaling or longer than calyx, limb lobed, often deeply so, lobes 4–6, linear, lanceolate, or oblong, small lateral teeth may be present, 6–15 mm, appendages inconspicuous, 1–2 mm, dentate;
stamens longer than corolla claw but shorter than lobes;
stigmas 3, equaling corolla.
1-locular, narrowly ovoid, exceeding calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) ascending teeth;
carpophore 3–6 mm.
oblong to ovoid or broadly tubular, equaling calyx, opening by 6 ascending teeth;
carpophore 2–4 mm.
brown, reniform, 1.5–2 mm broad, shallowly tuberculate on both surfaces, papillate around margins.
reddish brown, broadly reniform, 1.7–2.3 mm, sides tuberculate, margins papillate.
= 48.
Silene bernardina
Silene laciniata
Silene bernardina is the earliest valid name for this species. Watson had previously (1875) named it S. montana, and that name was taken up by C. L. Hitchcock and B. Maguire (1947), who cited S. bernardina as a subspecies of S. montana. Unfortunately, the epithet montana is pre-occupied in Silene by S. montana Arrondeau (1863), an unrelated European species. The situation was further complicated by Watson in 1877, when he used the name Lychnis montana for another unrelated species now transferred to Silene and called S. hitchguirei.
Silene bernardina varies in leaf width, pubescence, and flower color. The broader-leaved and more sparsely pubescent forms have been referred to subsp. bernardina, and the more-common, narrower-leaved, more-densely pubescent, and viscid forms have been referred to subsp. maguirei.
Some forms of Silene bernardina can be difficult to distinguish from S. verecunda, S. sargentii, and S. oregana. Silene verecunda differs in its smaller, clavate calyx and in its petals being only shortly two-lobed. Silene sargentii is a small, densely cespitose, high-alpine species with very narrow, linear leaves (1–2 mm wide), shortly two-lobed petals, and seeds with much larger papillae around the margins. In S. oregana the petals are larger (two times the calyx) and deeply divided into many very narrow segments; the claw and the filaments are glabrous; the leaves, particularly the basal ones, are broader; and the inflorescences are narrower, with the more numerous flowers arranged on short, ascending branches; also, the calyx lobes are ovate and obtuse instead of lanceolate and acute. The Idaho material tends to be intermediate with S. oregana but has open, dichotomously branched inflorescences, and the petals are nearer to those of S. bernardina. These plants from Valley County in the Payette National Forest need further study, preferably in the field. They may represent a distinct taxon.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).
The large, beautiful scarlet flowers of Silene laciniata are bird- and butterfly-pollinated. The species occurs in three forms. Subspecies laciniata has narrow leaves, much-branched and many-flowered, open inflorescences, and oblong capsules. Subspecies californica has ovate to lanceolate leaves, few-flowered inflorescences, and ovoid capsules. These two entities both occur in California and Mexico. Although they are usually distinguishable, apparent intermediates occur. The third entity is subsp. greggii, which occurs in Arizona, southwestern Texas, and Mexico. It combines characters of the other two subspecies, having broader leaves, a branched and many-flowered open inflorescence, and a capsule of intermediate shape.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Inflorescences poorly developed, usually 1-3(-5)-flowered; stems straggling, sparsely branched, leafy throughout; distal leaf blades and bracts lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate; capsules ovoid; fruiting calyces obovate to turbinate, more than 1/ 2 as broad as long | subsp. californica |
1. Inflorescences well-developed, (3-)5+-flowered; stems erect or ascending, sometimes with decumbent base, branched distally; distal leaves reduced, blade linear or lanceolate to elliptic; capsules oblong or broadly tubular; fruiting calyces less than 1/ 2 as broad as long | → 2 |
2. Distal leaf blades linear to lanceolate, proximal leaf blades lanceolate to oblanceolate; California, Mexico | subsp. laciniata |
2. Distal leaf blades lanceolate to elliptic, proximal leaf blades oblanceolate, often broadly so; Arizona to sw Texas, s into Mexico | subsp. greggii |
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