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common catchfly, silène de france, small-flower catchfly, windmill campion, windmill pink

Lemmon's catchfly

Habit Plants annual; taproot slender. Plants perennial; taproot stout; caudex much-branched, woody, producing short, decumbent, leafy sterile shoots and erect flowering shoots.
Stems

erect, branched, rarely simple, 15–45 cm, with long, often crinkled hairs mixed with short pubescence, viscid-glandular distally.

15–45 cm, pubescent and glandular-viscid distally, sparsely pubescent to ± glabrous proximally.

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.

mostly in dense basal tufts;

basal blades oblanceolate to elliptic, 1–3.5 cm × 3–10 mm, narrowed to base, apex acute, scabrous-puberulent to subglabrous;

cauline in 2–3 pairs, distal sessile, reduced, blade linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 1.5–4 cm × 2–6 mm.

Inflorescences

open, with racemose branches, internodes and bracts usually ca. equaling fruiting calyx, 1–5 mm, longer proximally.

cymose, (1–)3–5(–7)-flowered, open, bracteate, bracteolate, pubescent and viscid with stipitate glands;

cyme open, slender-branched;

bracts and bracteoles narrowly lanceolate, 2–15 mm, herbaceous.

Pedicels

divaricate, often curved near apex and/or at base, slender, 1/2–2 times longer than calyx.

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, 6–10 × 2–4 mm in flower, broadening in fruit and becoming obconic with ± constricted base, ± as broad as long, pubescent and glandular, veins parallel, with pale commissures, lobes triangular, 1–2 mm, margins broad, membranous, apex acute;

corolla yellowish white, sometimes tinged with pink, clawed, claw equaling or longer than calyx, limb deeply lobed, lobes 4, linear, 4–8 mm, appendages 2, narrow, ca. 1 mm;

stamens exserted, equaling petals;

styles 3, filamentous, much longer than petals and stamens, exceeding 2 times calyx.

Capsules

equaling calyx, opening with 6 recurved, narrowly triangular teeth;

carpophore shorter than 1 mm, pubescent.

obovoid, equaling calyx and often splitting it, opening by 6 recurved teeth;

carpophore 2–3 mm.

Seeds

dark reddish brown, reniform, angular with concave, radially ridged faces, broad outer edge transversely ridged and verrucose, ca. 0.5 mm broad.

rusty brown, often with gray bloom, broadly reniform, 1–1.8 mm, coarsely papillate.

2n

= 24.

= 48.

Silene gallica

Silene lemmonii

Phenology Flowering spring–early summer. Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Dry, open places, sandy and gravelly ground, roadsides, waste land Woodlands and forests, often in moist situations
Elevation 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft) 200-2800 m (700-9200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Silene lemmonii has typical moth-pollinated flowers. It is closely related to S. bridgesii and appears to intergrade with it. However, the small size of S. lemmonii and the presence of a compact growth of short, leafy sterile shoots usually distinguish it from S. bridgesii.

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

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 185. FNA vol. 5, p. 192.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene
Sibling taxa
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. coronaria, S. csereii, S. dichotoma, S. dioica, S. douglasii, S. drummondii, S. flos-cuculi, 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. 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. 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. anglica, S. quinquevulnera S. palmeri
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 417. (1753) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 342. (1875)
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