Silene ovata
Silene williamsii
Blue Ridge catchfly, ovate-leaf campion or catchfly, ovate-leaf catchfly
Williams' catchfly
erect, usually simple, 30–150 cm, with short, dense, eglandular pubescence, sparsely so toward base.
several–many, decumbent to erect, much-branched and sometimes matted, leafy, 5–30 cm, pubescent and glandular, at least distally.
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, leafy above, sessile;
blade narrowly lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, broadest proximally, narrowed to base, 1–5 cm × 3–8 mm, apex acute, short-pubescent and ± glandular on both surfaces.
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, loose, leafy, compound, or flowers terminal, axillary in distal nodes.
ascending, recurved near apex, ca. equaling calyx.
0.5–1(–3) cm, glandular-pubescent.
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.
unisexual, all plants having both staminate and pistillate flowers;
calyx obscurely 10-veined, ovate-campanulate, 9–11 × 4–6 mm, herbaceous, papery, pubescence rather dense, glandular, ± obscuring veins, veins slender, without conspicuous pale commissures, lobes lanceolate, ca. 2 mm, apex acute to acuminate;
corolla white, clawed, claw shorter than calyx, limb oblong, 2-lobed, 1.5–3 mm, lobes lanceolate, apex acute, appendages linear, 0.3–0.5 mm;
stamens equaling corolla;
stigmas 3, slender, equaling corolla, papillate only at tip.
narrowly ovoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 3 (splitting into 6) ascending teeth;
carpophore 2–2.5 mm.
straw colored, ovoid-ellipsoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 6 teeth;
carpophore ca. 1 mm.
dark brown, reniform, 0.8–1.5 mm, shallowly tuberculate.
dull brown, not winged, angular-reniform, ca. 1 mm, tuberculate.
= 48.
= 24.
Silene ovata
Silene williamsii
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 williamsii is similar to S. menziesii but is readily separated by its leaves, which are broadest below the middle, its dull tuberculate seeds, and its stigmas, which are papillate only at the tip. It is also monoecious instead of functionally dioecious.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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USDA Plants Database
