Silene ovata |
Silene noctiflora |
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Blue Ridge catchfly, ovate-leaf campion or catchfly, ovate-leaf catchfly |
night-flowering campion, night-flowering catchfly, nightflowering silene, silène noctiflore, sticky cockle |
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Habit | Plants perennial, rhizomatous; rhizome creeping. | Plants annual, densely pubescent throughout, viscid-glandular, especially distally; taproot slender. |
Stems | erect, usually simple, 30–150 cm, with short, dense, eglandular pubescence, sparsely so toward base. |
erect, simple proximal to inflorescence or with few basal branches, branched distally, to 75 cm. |
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. |
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. |
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, 3–15-flowered, bracteate; cyme open, flowers held on ascending branches; bracts leaflike, narrowly lanceolate, 1–5 cm, apex acuminate. |
Pedicels | ascending, recurved near apex, ca. equaling calyx. |
ascending, straight, 1/3–3 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. |
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. |
Capsules | narrowly ovoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 3 (splitting into 6) ascending teeth; carpophore 2–2.5 mm. |
ovoid, constricted at mouth, equaling or slightly longer than calyx tube, opening by 6 recurved teeth; carpophore 1–3 mm. |
Seeds | dark brown, reniform, 0.8–1.5 mm, shallowly tuberculate. |
dark brown to black, with gray bloom, broadly reniform, 0.8–1 mm, strongly tuberculate. |
2n | = 48. |
= 24. |
Silene ovata |
Silene noctiflora |
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Phenology | Flowering late summer–fall. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Rich woods | Arable land, disturbed ground |
Elevation | 1000-1900 m (3300-6200 ft) | 0-3000 m (0-9800 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; GA; KY; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA
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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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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 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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5. | FNA vol. 5, p. 194. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Melandrium noctiflorum | |
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 316. (1813) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 419. (1753) |
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