Silene ovata |
Silene lemmonii |
|
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Blue Ridge catchfly, ovate-leaf campion or catchfly, ovate-leaf catchfly |
Lemmon's catchfly |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, rhizomatous; rhizome creeping. | Plants perennial; taproot stout; caudex much-branched, woody, producing short, decumbent, leafy sterile shoots and erect flowering shoots. |
Stems | erect, usually simple, 30–150 cm, with short, dense, eglandular pubescence, sparsely so toward base. |
15–45 cm, pubescent and glandular-viscid distally, sparsely pubescent to ± glabrous proximally. |
Leaves | 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. |
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 | paniculate, narrow, many-flowered, open, bracteate, pedunculate, 10–50 × 3–5 cm, densely puberulent; bracts narrowly lanceolate, 3–15 mm, apex acuminate; peduncle ascending. |
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 | ascending, recurved near apex, ca. equaling calyx. |
divaricate, often curved near apex and/or at base, slender, 1/2–2 times longer than calyx. |
Flowers | 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. |
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 | narrowly ovoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 3 (splitting into 6) ascending teeth; carpophore 2–2.5 mm. |
obovoid, equaling calyx and often splitting it, opening by 6 recurved teeth; carpophore 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | dark brown, reniform, 0.8–1.5 mm, shallowly tuberculate. |
rusty brown, often with gray bloom, broadly reniform, 1–1.8 mm, coarsely papillate. |
2n | = 48. |
= 48. |
Silene ovata |
Silene lemmonii |
|
Phenology | Flowering late summer–fall. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Rich woods | Woodlands and forests, often in moist situations |
Elevation | 1000-1900 m (3300-6200 ft) | 200-2800 m (700-9200 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; GA; KY; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA
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CA; OR
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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.) |
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. | FNA vol. 5, p. 192. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. palmeri | |
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 316. (1813) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 342. (1875) |
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