Silene ovata |
Silene vulgaris |
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Blue Ridge catchfly, ovate-leaf campion or catchfly, ovate-leaf catchfly |
bladder campion, common campion, maiden's-tears, silène enflé |
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Habit | Plants perennial, rhizomatous; rhizome creeping. | Plants short-lived perennial, glabrous, rarely pubescent, glaucous; taproot stout; caudex woody. |
Stems | erect, usually simple, 30–150 cm, with short, dense, eglandular pubescence, sparsely so toward base. |
several–many, erect, branched and decumbent at base, rarely simple, 20–80 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. |
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 | paniculate, narrow, many-flowered, open, bracteate, pedunculate, 10–50 × 3–5 cm, densely puberulent; bracts narrowly lanceolate, 3–15 mm, apex acuminate; peduncle ascending. |
open dichasial cyme, 5–40-flowered, bracteate; bracts much-reduced, lanceolate. |
Pedicels | ascending, recurved near apex, ca. equaling calyx. |
0.5–3 cm. |
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. |
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 | narrowly ovoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 3 (splitting into 6) ascending teeth; carpophore 2–2.5 mm. |
ovoid to globose, equaling calyx, opening by 6 teeth; carpophore 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | dark brown, reniform, 0.8–1.5 mm, shallowly tuberculate. |
black or nearly so, globose-reniform, 1–1.5 mm, finely tuberculate. |
2n | = 48. |
= 24. |
Silene ovata |
Silene vulgaris |
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Phenology | Flowering late summer–fall. | Flowering summer–fall. |
Habitat | Rich woods | Roadsides, waste ground, gravel pits and shores, arable land |
Elevation | 1000-1900 m (3300-6200 ft) | 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; GA; KY; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA
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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 | 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 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. | FNA vol. 5, p. 213. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Behen vulgaris, S. cucubalus, S. inflata, S. latifolia var. pubescens | |
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 316. (1813) | (Moench) Garcke: Fl. N. Mitt.-Deutschland ed. 9, 46. (1869) |
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