Silene gallica |
Silene ovata |
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common catchfly, silène de france, small-flower catchfly, windmill campion, windmill pink |
Blue Ridge catchfly, ovate-leaf campion or catchfly, ovate-leaf catchfly |
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Habit | Plants annual; taproot slender. | Plants perennial, rhizomatous; rhizome creeping. |
Stems | erect, branched, rarely simple, 15–45 cm, with long, often crinkled hairs mixed with short pubescence, viscid-glandular distally. |
erect, usually simple, 30–150 cm, with short, dense, eglandular pubescence, sparsely so toward base. |
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. |
sessile, 2 per node; blade prominently 3–5-veined, ovate-acuminate, round at base, (4–)6–10(–13) cm × (20–)30–50(–90) mm, appressed-pubescent on both surfaces. |
Inflorescences | open, with racemose branches, internodes and bracts usually ca. equaling fruiting calyx, 1–5 mm, longer proximally. |
paniculate, narrow, many-flowered, open, bracteate, pedunculate, 10–50 × 3–5 cm, densely puberulent; bracts narrowly lanceolate, 3–15 mm, apex acuminate; peduncle ascending. |
Pedicels | ascending, recurved near apex, ca. equaling calyx. |
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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. |
nocturnal; calyx prominently 10-veined, tubular to narrowly campanulate and 6–9 × 3–4 mm in flower, turbinate and 10–12 × 4–5 mm in fruit, narrowed proximally around carpophore, veins parallel, green, broad, with pale commissures, puberulent, sometimes with few glands, lobes triangular-acute, 2–3 mm; corolla white, clawed, claw equaling calyx, broadened into limb, limb obtriangular, deeply lobed, 7–9 mm, lobes ca. 8, linear, appendages minute; stamens slightly longer than corolla; styles 3, ca. 2 times as long as corolla. |
Capsules | equaling calyx, opening with 6 recurved, narrowly triangular teeth; carpophore shorter than 1 mm, pubescent. |
narrowly ovoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 3 (splitting into 6) ascending teeth; carpophore 2–2.5 mm. |
Seeds | dark reddish brown, reniform, angular with concave, radially ridged faces, broad outer edge transversely ridged and verrucose, ca. 0.5 mm broad. |
dark brown, reniform, 0.8–1.5 mm, shallowly tuberculate. |
2n | = 24. |
= 48. |
Silene gallica |
Silene ovata |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–early summer. | Flowering late summer–fall. |
Habitat | Dry, open places, sandy and gravelly ground, roadsides, waste land | Rich woods |
Elevation | 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft) | 1000-1900 m (3300-6200 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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AL; AR; GA; KY; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA
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Discussion | Of conservation concern. Silene ovata is a very distinctive species with large, ovate, acuminate, sessile, paired leaves, and very narrowly lobed white petals. The flowers open at night and are moth-pollinated. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 185. | FNA vol. 5. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. anglica, S. quinquevulnera | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 417. (1753) | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 316. (1813) |
Web links |
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