Silene gallica |
Silene petersonii |
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common catchfly, silène de france, small-flower catchfly, windmill campion, windmill pink |
Peterson's campion or catchfly, plateau catchfly |
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Habit | Plants annual; taproot slender. | Plants perennial, rhizomatous; caudex thick, with many rhizomatous, creeping, branched, slender subterranean shoots, terminating in tight tufts of leaves and erect flowering stems. |
Stems | erect, branched, rarely simple, 15–45 cm, with long, often crinkled hairs mixed with short pubescence, viscid-glandular distally. |
simple, 5–15 cm, pubescent and viscid, with stipitate glands. |
Leaves | 2 per node, blade with coarse, ascending, scabrous pubescence on both surfaces; basal few, withering, blade oblanceolate to spatulate-petiolate, 0.5–5 cm × 3–15 mm; cauline blades oblanceolate to lanceolate, 1–7 cm × 1–15 mm, apex obtuse or shortly acuminate to acute. |
basal with blade 1-veined, oblanceolate, broadly spatulate, 1–4 cm × 2–8 mm, apex obtuse to acute, glandular-puberulent throughout, rarely subglabrous adaxially; cauline in 3–6 pairs, sessile, reduced distally, blade lanceolate, narrowly elliptic, or oblanceolate, 2–4 cm × 2–8 mm, apex ± acute, glandular-puberulent throughout. |
Inflorescences | open, with racemose branches, internodes and bracts usually ca. equaling fruiting calyx, 1–5 mm, longer proximally. |
usually with solitary terminal flower, sometimes cymose, to 8-flowered, open. |
Pedicels | erect or angled near tip with flowers slightly nodding, 1–3 times longer than calyx, glandular-puberulent, often densely so. |
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Flowers | 5–8 mm diam.; calyx prominently 10-veined, narrowly tubular-ovoid in flower, ovoid in fruit, constricted at mouth, 7–10 × 3–5 mm, membranous between veins, margins dentate, hispid, hairs ca. 2 mm, veins parallel, lobes lanceolate, 2–2.5 mm, apex greenish purple, acute; petals white or pink, often with dark spot or dark pink throughout, clawed, claw equaling calyx, limb elliptic to obovate, lobed or unlobed, to 6 mm, appendages 2, oblong to narrowly lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm; stamens equaling or shorter than calyx; stigmas 3, included in calyx. |
calyx prominently 10-veined, campanulate, not contracted proximally around carpophore, 15–20 × 4–8 mm, papery, margins dentate, veins parallel, usually purple tinged, with pale commissures; lobes ovate, 3–5 mm, glandular-puberulent, midrib triangular, margins purple tinged, broad, membranous, apex obtuse; corolla bright pink, clawed, claw equaling calyx, broad and ligulate but abruptly contracted into limb, limb broadly cuneate, shallowly to deeply 2–4-lobed, 5–15 mm, lobes broad or narrow, appendages absent or to 2 mm, margins erose; stamens slightly longer than corolla claw; stigmas 3(–5), slightly longer than corolla claw. |
Capsules | equaling calyx, opening with 6 recurved, narrowly triangular teeth; carpophore shorter than 1 mm, pubescent. |
equaling calyx, opening by 6 (or 8 or 10) lanceolate teeth; carpophore 1–2.5 mm. |
Seeds | dark reddish brown, reniform, angular with concave, radially ridged faces, broad outer edge transversely ridged and verrucose, ca. 0.5 mm broad. |
brown, broadly reniform, flattened, 2–2.5 mm, rugose, more coarsely so on margins. |
2n | = 24. |
= 96. |
Silene gallica |
Silene petersonii |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–early summer. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Dry, open places, sandy and gravelly ground, roadsides, waste land | Calcareous gravel, clay, talus, and rocks on ridges, slopes, and barren ground |
Elevation | 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft) | 2000-3400 m (6600-11200 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AL; AZ; CA; FL; ID; LA; MA; ME; MO; MS; NC; NH; NY; OR; PA; RI; SC; TX; WA; BC; NB; NS; ON; PE; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced worldwide]
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NV; UT
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Discussion | Of conservation concern. This beautiful alpine species is variable with respect to density of pubescence, flower size, and petal structure. As this variation occurs both within and among populations, little useful purpose is served by giving names to it. The Nevada population, which is the basis for the name Silene clokeyi, is interfertile (A. R. Kruckeberg 1961) with populations in Utah (the basis for the name S. petersonii). Accordingly, a single species is recognized here without infraspecific taxa. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 185. | FNA vol. 5, p. 198. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. anglica, S. quinquevulnera | S. clokeyi, S. petersonii var. minor |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 417. (1753) | Maguire: Madroño 6: 24. (1941) |
Web links |
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