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round-leaf catchfly

Cascade alpine campion, Cascade alpine catchfly, Cascade catchfly, Suksdorf's catchfly, Suksdorf's silene

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
from FNA
AL; GA; KY; OH; TN; WV
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA
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[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.)

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
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
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. rotundifolia, S. sargentii, S. scaposa, S. scouleri, S. seelyi, S. serpentinicola, S. sibirica, S. sorensenis, S. spaldingii, S. stellata, S. subciliata, S. suecica, 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) B. L. Robinson: Bot. Gaz. 16: 44, plate 6, figs. 9–11. (1891)
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