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barestem campion, naked campion, sticky catchfly, western fringe catchfly

Habit Plants perennial; taproot thick; caudex erect, branched, thick and woody, producing tufts of leaves.
Stems

erect, branched distally, with 2–4 pairs of reduced leaves, 15–50 cm; flowering shoots usually subscapose, coarsely pubescent with hairs colorless, septate, and long, viscid-glandular, especially distally.

Leaves

mostly basal;

basal long-petiolate, blade oblanceolate to elliptic, 6–15 cm × 10–30 mm, narrowed to base, not fleshy;

cauline few, sessile, reduced distally, blade lanceolate, 0.8–4 cm × 3–8 mm, not fleshy.

Inflorescences

thyrsate, subscapose, rarely simple, (3–)5–12(rarely more)-flowered, open, bracteate, bracteolate, densely pubescent, glandular, viscid; alternate branches often suppressed or developing unevenly;

proximal nodes often with single flower;

bracts and bracteoles resembling stem leaves but much reduced.

Pedicels

1/4–2 times length of calyx.

Flowers

calyx prominently 10-veined, veins parallel, those of lobes broadened distally, tubular in flower, 10–13 × 2.5–4 mm, campanulate-ovate in fruit, broadest near middle and contracted towards mouth, not contracted proximally, 12–18 × 5–8 mm, with pale commissures, lobes 5, erect, narrowly lanceolate, 4–6 mm, margins narrow, membranous proximally, apex blunt, with glandular hairs;

petals 11/2–2 times longer than calyx tube;

corolla pink, clawed, claw equaling calyx tube, limb obovate, deeply 2-lobed, 5–10 mm, appendages 2, linear, ca. 1.5 mm;

stamens exserted, shorter than petals;

styles 3–5, included in calyx, ± equaling calyx or corolla.

Capsules

conic to ellipsoid, equaling calyx lobes, opening by 6–10 recurved teeth;

carpophore 1–2 mm.

Seeds

dark brown, reniform, 1–1.5 mm, prominently papillate;

papillae larger around margins.

2n

= 48.

Silene nuda

Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Scrubby grasslands and openings in woodland and coniferous forests
Elevation 1100-2300 m (3600-7500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Silene nuda may be confused with the other scapose species, S. scaposa, but S. nuda has larger, more conspicuous petals that are one and one-half to two times as long as the calyx tube. It is found in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades. The Nevada populations tend to grow in drier situations and on saline flats.

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

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 195.
Parent taxa 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. gallica, 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. 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 Lychnis nuda, S. insectivora, S. nuda subsp. insectivora, S. pectinata, S. pectinata var. subnuda
Name authority (S. Watson) C. L. Hitchcock & Maguire: Revis. N. Amer. Silene, 45. (1947)
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