Silene dioica |
Silene pendula |
|
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red campion, red catchfly, silène dioïque |
drooping catchfly, nodding campion, nodding catchfly |
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Habit | Plants perennial; taproot slender. | Plants annual, with several decumbent shoots; taproot slender. |
Stems | ascending, decumbent at base, branched, shortly rhizomatous, to 80 cm, softly pubescent, ± glandular, at least distally, rarely subglabrous. |
procumbent to ascending, branched, leafy, 15–45 cm, lanuginose, often sparsely so, viscid distally. |
Leaves | sessile at mid and distal stem, petiolate to spatulate proximally; petiole equaling or longer than blade of basal leaves; blade ovate to elliptic, 3–13 cm × 10–50 mm (not including petiole), apex acute to acuminate, sparingly pubescent, densely so on abaxial midrib. |
2 per node; proximal with blade obovate, spatulate, apex obtuse; distal sessile, blade ovate to lanceolate, 2–5 cm × 2–20 mm, apex acute, sparsely pubescent adaxially, more densely so abaxially. |
Inflorescences | dichasial cymes, several- to many-flowered, open, bracteate; bracts lanceolate, 4–20 × 2–7 mm, herbaceous, softly hairy throughout with long-septate hairs, not glandular, or with some glandular hairs. |
pseudoracemose, lax, solitary flowers in axils of leafy bracts. |
Pedicels | ascending, 0.2–3 cm, usually shorter than calyx. |
erect in flower, sharply deflexed at base in fruit, usually shorter than calyx, pilose and stipitate-glandular. |
Flowers | unisexual, some plants having only staminate flowers, others having only pistillate flowers, 20–25 mm diam.; calyx 8–12-veined, campanulate, narrowly so in staminate flowers, broadly in pistillate, 10–15 × to 7 mm in flower, 11 mm broad in fruit, herbaceous, margins dentate, softly pubescent, lobes 5, erect, lanceolate, 2–3 mm; petals bright pink, clawed, claw equaling or longer than calyx, limb spreading horizontally, broadly obovate, unlobed or 2-lobed, to 12 × 12 mm, appendages 4, ca. 1 mm; stamens and stigmas equaling petal claw; styles 5. |
calyx prominently 10-veined, obovoid, especially in fruit, clavate, constricted around carpophore and narrowed at mouth, umbilicate, inflated, 13–18 mm, loose and papery, pubescence glandular and eglandular, sparsely lanuginose, veins parallel, green or purple, with pale commissures, lobes triangular, ca. 2 mm, apex obtuse; corolla bright pink, clawed, claw equaling calyx, limb obtriangular, 2-lobed, 7–11 mm, lobes divergent, ovate, appendages 2, shorter than 1 mm, apex acute; stamens slightly longer than petal claw; stigmas 3, equaling petals. |
Capsules | broadly ovoid to globose, equaling and often splitting calyx, opening by 5 (splitting into 10) revolute teeth; carpophore absent. |
included in calyx, ovoid-conic, opening by 6 teeth; carpophore 3–6 mm. |
Seeds | dark brown to black, broadly reniform, plump, 1–1.6 mm, densely and evenly papillate. |
dark brown, broadly reniform, 1.3–1.5 mm, with concentric crescents of shallow tubercles on both sides, margins with larger, deeper tubercles. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24 (Europe). |
Silene dioica |
Silene pendula |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering early summer. |
Habitat | Woodlands, hedges, gardens, riverbanks, open waste places | Roadsides |
Elevation | 0-500 m (0-1600 ft) | 0-2900 m (0-9500 ft) |
Distribution |
CT; IA; IL; MA; MD; ME; MT; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SD; VT; WA; WI; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; QC; Europe [Introduced in North America]
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CA; ME; NJ; NY; OR; WY; BC; Europe [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Silene dioica is closely related to S. latifolia and completely interfertile with it. The two species hybridize wherever they grow in close proximity, and the offspring (S. hampeana Meusel & K. Werner) usually have pale pink flowers. Silene dioica and S. latifolia are difficult to separate in herbarium material unless flower color has been noted. The characters that distinguish S. dioica are the usually dense, long, and soft pubescence covering at least the distal portion of the plant; the broad, almost globose, thin, and brittle capsule with revolute teeth; and the softer, thinner, usually broader leaves. Occasionally, double-flowered plants are encountered as garden escapes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Silene pendula is an attractive, rarely escaping and persisting garden plant readily recognized by its beautiful pink flowers, straggling leafy stems, racemelike inflorescences with axillary flowers, and the obovoid, papery, strongly veined calyx that is constricted below the middle. It is occasionally used in seeding roadsides. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 181. | FNA vol. 5, p. 198. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Lychnis dioica, Lychnis rubra, Melandrium dioicum, Melandrium dioicum subsp. rubrum, Melandrium rubrum | |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Clairville: Man. Herbor. Suisse, 146. (1811) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 418. (1753) |
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