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round-leaf catchfly

Habit Plants perennial; taproot stout, fleshy; caudex branched.
Stems

several, straggling to erect, freely branched, 2–7 cm, pilose and glandular, sparsely so proximally.

Leaves

basal leaves withered at time of flowering, distal sessile, proximal petiolate, largest on mid to distal stem;

blade subrotund to broadly ovate-lanceolate, 3–10 cm × 20–70 mm, base cuneate into petiole, apex short-acuminate, sparsely short-pilose.

Inflorescences

cymose, open, few-flowered, leafy, bracteate;

bracts resembling distal leaves.

Pedicels

1–3(–4) cm, viscid, with long septate-glandular hairs.

Flowers

calyx indistinctly veined, tubular, broadened distally, constricted towards base around carpophore, ± umbilicate, 20–25 × 5–8 mm, herbaceous, glandular-pilose, lobes triangular, 3–4 mm, margins narrow, membranous, ciliate;

corolla scarlet, clawed, claw equaling calyx, limb deeply 2-lobed, 10–15 mm, lobes lanceolate, sometimes with 2 smaller lateral teeth, ciliate, appendages saccate, 1–1.5 mm, with clear area abaxially;

stamens shortly exserted;

styles 3, shortly exserted.

Capsules

narrowly ellipsoid, not distending calyx, included within it, opening by 6 teeth;

carpophore 6–8 mm.

Seeds

gray, broadly reniform, plump, ca. 1 mm, shallowly papillate.

2n

= 48.

Silene rotundifolia

Phenology Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat Woodlands, partially shaded cliffs and bluffs
Elevation 200-600 m (700-2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; GA; KY; OH; TN; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Silene rotundifolia is clearly related to S. laciniata but is a well-marked species of the deciduous forest region.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 201.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene
Sibling taxa
S. acaulis, S. antirrhina, S. aperta, S. armeria, S. bernardina, S. bridgesii, S. campanulata, S. caroliniana, S. chalcedonica, S. conica, S. coniflora, S. conoidea, S. coronaria, S. csereii, S. dichotoma, S. dioica, S. douglasii, S. drummondii, S. flos-cuculi, S. gallica, S. grayi, S. hitchguirei, S. hookeri, S. invisa, S. involucrata, S. kingii, S. laciniata, S. latifolia, S. lemmonii, S. marmorensis, S. menziesii, S. nachlingerae, S. nivea, S. noctiflora, S. nuda, S. occidentalis, S. oregana, S. ostenfeldii, S. ovata, S. parishii, S. parryi, S. pendula, S. petersonii, S. plankii, S. polypetala, S. pseudatocion, S. rectiramea, S. regia, S. repens, S. sargentii, S. scaposa, S. scouleri, S. seelyi, S. serpentinicola, S. sibirica, S. sorensenis, S. spaldingii, S. stellata, S. subciliata, S. suecica, S. suksdorfii, S. thurberi, S. uralensis, S. verecunda, S. virginica, S. viscaria, S. vulgaris, S. williamsii, S. wrightii
Synonyms Melandrium rotundifolium
Name authority Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 1: 288. (1818)
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