Silene noctiflora |
Silene vulgaris |
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night-flowering campion, night-flowering catchfly, nightflowering silene, silène noctiflore, sticky cockle |
bladder campion, common campion, maiden's-tears, silène enflé |
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Habit | Plants annual, densely pubescent throughout, viscid-glandular, especially distally; taproot slender. | Plants short-lived perennial, glabrous, rarely pubescent, glaucous; taproot stout; caudex woody. |
Stems | erect, simple proximal to inflorescence or with few basal branches, branched distally, to 75 cm. |
several–many, erect, branched and decumbent at base, rarely simple, 20–80 cm. |
Leaves | 2 per node, gradually reduced distally; basal blades oblanceolate, 6–12(–14) cm × 20–45 mm; cauline blades ascending, conspicuously veined, broadly elliptic to lanceolate, 1–11 cm × 3–40 mm, apex acute, shortly acuminate, densely pubescent on both surfaces. |
mainly cauline, 2 per node, sessile, almost clasping, reduced proximal to inflorescence, blade broadly oblong to oblanceolate or lanceolate, rarely ± linear, 2–8 cm × 5–30 mm, base round, apex acute to acuminate. |
Inflorescences | cymose, 3–15-flowered, bracteate; cyme open, flowers held on ascending branches; bracts leaflike, narrowly lanceolate, 1–5 cm, apex acuminate. |
open dichasial cyme, 5–40-flowered, bracteate; bracts much-reduced, lanceolate. |
Pedicels | ascending, straight, 1/3–3 times longer than calyx. |
0.5–3 cm. |
Flowers | nocturnal, 20–25 mm diam.; calyx prominently 10-veined, ovate-elliptic, fusiform, narrowed to both ends and constricted around carpophore, 15–24(–40) × ca. 3 mm in flower, swelling to 10 mm diam. in fruit, thin and papery, margins dentate, with pale commissures; lobes erect, often recurved in fruit, linear-lanceolate, long, narrow, (3–)5–10(–15) mm, apex acuminate, short-pubescent, glandular, interspersed with long eglandular hairs, veins anastomosing; corolla white, often pink tinged, clawed, claw equaling calyx lobes, limb deeply 2-lobed, lobes usually narrow, appendages 0.5–1.5 mm broad, margins entire or erose; stamens shorter than petals; styles 3, shorter than petals. |
bisexual and unisexual, some plants having bisexual flowers, others having pistillate unisexual flowers, 15–20 mm diam.; calyx pale green, rarely purplish, campanulate, not contracted at mouth or base, inflated, 9–12 mm in flower, 12–18 × 7–11 mm in fruit, herbaceous, papery, venation obscure, reticulate, without conspicuous pale commissures, margins dentate, lobes broadly triangular, 2–3 mm, glabrous; petals white, ca. 2 times as long as calyx; limb obovate, emarginate to 2-lobed; stamens exserted by 2–4 mm; styles 3, cream to greenish, at most slightly pink tinged, 2 times longer than calyx. |
Capsules | ovoid, constricted at mouth, equaling or slightly longer than calyx tube, opening by 6 recurved teeth; carpophore 1–3 mm. |
ovoid to globose, equaling calyx, opening by 6 teeth; carpophore 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | dark brown to black, with gray bloom, broadly reniform, 0.8–1 mm, strongly tuberculate. |
black or nearly so, globose-reniform, 1–1.5 mm, finely tuberculate. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Silene noctiflora |
Silene vulgaris |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering summer–fall. |
Habitat | Arable land, disturbed ground | Roadsides, waste ground, gravel pits and shores, arable land |
Elevation | 0-3000 m (0-9800 ft) | 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AL; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; IA; ID; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Europe [Introduced in North America]
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AK; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Europe [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Silene noctiflora is sometimes confused with S. latifolia, but they are very different species. Silene noctiflora differs in having perfect flowers with long, very narrow calyx teeth and an elliptic, fruiting calyx that is narrow at the mouth and constricted around the capsule base. It also has three styles and a capsule that dehisces by six teeth; S. latifolia has (four or) five styles and a capsule that dehisces by five bifid teeth. The flowers of S. noctiflora, as its name indicates, are nocturnal and moth-pollinated. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Silene vulgaris is less variable in North America than in its native Europe, where five subspecies are recognized on the basis of capsule size, petal color, leaf shape, and habit. All North American material appears to belong to subsp. vulgaris, although a few collections from sandy habitats tend to have unusually narrow leaves. Similar plants from Europe have been named var. litoralis (Ruprecht) Jalas and subsp. angustifolia Hayek. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 194. | FNA vol. 5, p. 213. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Melandrium noctiflorum | Behen vulgaris, S. cucubalus, S. inflata, S. latifolia var. pubescens |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 419. (1753) | (Moench) Garcke: Fl. N. Mitt.-Deutschland ed. 9, 46. (1869) |
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