Silene rotundifolia |
Silene suksdorfii |
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round-leaf catchfly |
Cascade alpine campion, Cascade alpine catchfly, Cascade catchfly, Suksdorf's catchfly, Suksdorf's silene |
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Habit | Plants perennial; taproot stout, fleshy; caudex branched. | Plants perennial, cespitose, with decumbent subterranean shoots; taproot stout; caudex branched, woody. |
Stems | several, straggling to erect, freely branched, 2–7 cm, pilose and glandular, sparsely so proximally. |
numerous, erect, simple, 3–15 cm, pubescent, viscid-glandular distally. |
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. |
mostly basal, densely tufted; basal numerous, pseudopetiolate, blade narrowly oblanceolate, tapering into base, 0.5–3 cm × 1.5–4 mm, ± fleshy, apex acute, puberulent; cauline in 1–3 pairs, ± sessile, reduced, blade narrowly oblanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 0.7–2 cm × 1–3 mm, apex acute, puberulent. |
Inflorescences | cymose, open, few-flowered, leafy, bracteate; bracts resembling distal leaves. |
flowers terminal, solitary, or in single dichotomy, bracteate; bracts leaflike, 3–15 mm. |
Pedicels | 1–3(–4) cm, viscid, with long septate-glandular hairs. |
erect, ca. equaling calyx, viscid glandular-pubescent, hairs with purple septa. |
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. |
calyx prominently 10-veined, campanulate, not contracted proximally around carpophore, 10–15 × 5–7 mm, papery, veins parallel, purplish, with pale commissures, with purple-septate glandular hairs (rarely septa not purple), lobes ovate, ca. 2 mm, margins broad, membranous, apex obtuse; corolla off-white or tinged with dusky purple, clawed, claw equaling calyx, broadened distally, limb 2-lobed, 3–5 mm, appendages ca. 1 mm; stamens equaling calyx; styles 3(–4), equaling calyx. |
Capsules | narrowly ellipsoid, not distending calyx, included within it, opening by 6 teeth; carpophore 6–8 mm. |
equaling calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) teeth; carpophore 2.5–3.5 mm. |
Seeds | gray, broadly reniform, plump, ca. 1 mm, shallowly papillate. |
brown, broadly winged, reniform, 1–2 mm, rugose-tessellate. |
2n | = 48. |
= 48. |
Silene rotundifolia |
Silene suksdorfii |
|
Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Woodlands, partially shaded cliffs and bluffs | Alpine ridges, gravel slopes, talus |
Elevation | 200-600 m (700-2000 ft) | 1600-3000 m (5200-9800 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; GA; KY; OH; TN; WV
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CA; OR; WA
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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.) |
Silene suksdorfii appears to be closely related to S. parryi but differs in its broadly winged seeds, smaller size, cespitose habit, and the prominent purple-septate hairs of the calyx, although the latter occasionally are present in S. parryi. It is very similar to, and in Idaho appears to intergrade with, another alpine species, S. sargentii, which has linear leaves and lacks the purple septa in the hairs and the broad wing on the seeds. It is similar also to S. hitchguirei; see discussion under that species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 201. | FNA vol. 5, p. 209. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Melandrium rotundifolium | |
Name authority | Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 1: 288. (1818) | B. L. Robinson: Bot. Gaz. 16: 44, plate 6, figs. 9–11. (1891) |
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