Silene oregana |
Silene laciniata |
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oregon campion, Oregon catchfly, Oregon silene |
cardinal catchfly, Indian pink, Mexican campion, Mexican pink, Mexican pink or campion |
|||||||||
Habit | Plants perennial; taproot stout; caudex simple or sparsely branched, woody. | Plants perennial; taproot thick, fleshy; caudex branched. | ||||||||
Stems | usually simple proximal to inflorescence, 30–50(–70) cm, puberulent and shortly stipitate-glandular, especially distally. |
1–several, straggling to erect, sometimes decumbent at base, simple or much-branched distally, 20–120 cm, puberulent or scabrous-pubescent, sometimes retrorse, often glandular distally, becoming glabrate proximally. |
||||||||
Leaves | 2 per node, gradually reduced distally; basal petiolate, blade oblanceolate, spatulate, 5–9 cm × 7–15 mm (including petiole), apex acute to obtuse, usually glabrous adaxially, sparsely pubescent abaxially; cauline in 4–6 pairs, blade linear-lanceolate, 1–6(–8) cm × 2–6 mm, puberulent and shortly stipitate-glandular. |
sessile or narrowed at base into pseudopetiole, blade pubescent on both surfaces; proximal with blade lanceolate and oblanceolate, broadest distally or distal often reduced, cauline longest near mid stem, blade linear to lanceolate or elliptic, 1.5–10 cm × 2–30 mm. |
||||||||
Inflorescences | thyrsate, 3–25-flowered, open, bracteate, pedunculate, stipitate-glandular, viscid; bracts narrowly lanceolate, 2–25 mm, apex acuminate. |
from 1-flowered to simple dichotomy to compound and 3–5–many-flowered with elongate branches; bracts small, linear-lanceolate, or resembling leaves. |
||||||||
Pedicels | ascending. |
elongate, much exceeding calyx. |
||||||||
Flowers | calyx prominently 10-veined, narrowly campanulate, umbilicate, somewhat clavate and constricted below middle around carpophore, 9–15 × 3–4 mm in flower, broadening to 7 mm in fruit, membranous, shortly stipitate-glandular, veins parallel, slender, tinged dark red, with pale commissures, lobes ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, 2–3 mm, margins scarious; corolla creamy white, sometimes pink tinged, clawed, claw equaling calyx, glabrous, broadening only slightly into limb 3–8 mm, limb with 4–6 linear lobes, some splitting to 10 linear segments, appendages 4–6, linear, 1–1.5 mm, apex acute; stamens ca. equaling petals; filaments glabrous; stigmas 3(–5), ca. equaling petals. |
calyx green, 10-veined, broadly tubular, 12–25 × 4–8 mm in flower, narrower towards base, middle broadening to 6–13 mm in fruit, narrower at both ends, pubescent, glandular, lobes lanceolate, 2.5–5 mm, margins membranous or not, apex ± obtuse; corolla scarlet, clawed, claw equaling or longer than calyx, limb lobed, often deeply so, lobes 4–6, linear, lanceolate, or oblong, small lateral teeth may be present, 6–15 mm, appendages inconspicuous, 1–2 mm, dentate; stamens longer than corolla claw but shorter than lobes; stigmas 3, equaling corolla. |
||||||||
Capsules | ellipsoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 6 (or 8 or 10) very brittle teeth; carpophore 2–4 mm. |
oblong to ovoid or broadly tubular, equaling calyx, opening by 6 ascending teeth; carpophore 2–4 mm. |
||||||||
Seeds | brown, ± reniform, angular, glossy, shallowly tuberculate. |
reddish brown, broadly reniform, 1.7–2.3 mm, sides tuberculate, margins papillate. |
||||||||
2n | = 48. |
|||||||||
Silene oregana |
Silene laciniata |
|||||||||
Phenology | Flowering summer. | |||||||||
Habitat | Dry, grassy slopes, rocky areas, open woodlands and forests | |||||||||
Elevation | 1500-2800 m (4900-9200 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
|
AZ; CA; NM; TX; Mexico
|
||||||||
Discussion | The creamy white laciniate petals are the best field (and herbarium) guide to distinguishing this species from Silene parryi and S. scouleri, both of which have 2–4-lobed petals that are usually dingy cream to greenish or purple tinged. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora). The large, beautiful scarlet flowers of Silene laciniata are bird- and butterfly-pollinated. The species occurs in three forms. Subspecies laciniata has narrow leaves, much-branched and many-flowered, open inflorescences, and oblong capsules. Subspecies californica has ovate to lanceolate leaves, few-flowered inflorescences, and ovoid capsules. These two entities both occur in California and Mexico. Although they are usually distinguishable, apparent intermediates occur. The third entity is subsp. greggii, which occurs in Arizona, southwestern Texas, and Mexico. It combines characters of the other two subspecies, having broader leaves, a branched and many-flowered open inflorescence, and a capsule of intermediate shape. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||||||
Key |
|
|||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 196. | FNA vol. 5, p. 189. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | S. filisecta, S. gormanii, S. oregana var. filisecta | Melandrium laciniatum | ||||||||
Name authority | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 343. (1875) | Cavanilles: Icon. 6: 44, plate 564. (1801) | ||||||||
Web links |