Silene suksdorfii
Silene douglasii
Cascade alpine campion, Cascade alpine catchfly, Cascade catchfly, Suksdorf's catchfly, Suksdorf's silene
Douglas' campion, Douglas' catchfly, Douglas' silene, mountain navarretia, seabluff catchfly
numerous, erect, simple, 3–15 cm, pubescent, viscid-glandular distally.
several–many, ascending from decumbent base, usually unbranched, slender, 10–40(–70) cm, with short, fine, dense, retrorse or curled grayish white hairs, rarely subglabrous, typically not glandular but occasionally somewhat glandular distally.
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.
2 per node, finely retrorse;
blade with no visible lateral veins, midrib distinct, oblanceolate, elliptic to linear, 2–10 cm × 1.5–13 mm, apex acute, puberulent to glabrous;
basal leaves numerous, blade spatulate;
cauline in 1–8 pairs, distal ones sessile.
flowers terminal, solitary, or in single dichotomy, bracteate;
bracts leaflike, 3–15 mm.
typically cymose, occasionally with reduced lateral cymes, 1- or 3-flowered, open, bracteate, grayish white retrorse-puberulent, typically not glandular, rarely with few stipitate glands;
bracts narrowly lanceolate, 2–10 × 0.5–2 mm, herbaceous, puberulent.
erect, ca. equaling calyx, viscid glandular-pubescent, hairs with purple septa.
ascending, straight, 0.5–4 cm.
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.
calyx green, sometimes suffused with purple, prominently 10-veined, tubular in flower, campanulate and ± inflated in fruit, occasionally somewhat constricted near base, 12–15 × 3–10 mm, papery, grayish white retrorse-puberulent and eglandular, often ciliate, rarely glabrous or with few stipitate glands, veins parallel, green, forked and connate between lobes, lobes 5, erect, ovate-triangular, 2–3 mm, margins membranous, apex blunt;
corolla creamy white, often greenish and occasionally tinged with dark pink, clawed, to 2 times calyx, claw slightly longer than calyx, limb obovate-lanceolate, deeply 2-lobed, 4–11 mm, lobes oblong, rounded, margins entire to erose, appendages 1–2(–3) mm;
stamens equaling corolla claw;
styles 3–5, 1–11/2 times corolla claw.
equaling calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) teeth;
carpophore 2.5–3.5 mm.
ovoid-ellipsoid, 11/3 times calyx, opening by 3–5 ascending to spreading teeth;
carpophore 3–4 mm.
brown, broadly winged, reniform, 1–2 mm, rugose-tessellate.
rusty brown, broadly reniform, sides flat, 1.2–1.5 mm, margins coarsely papillate, verrucate-tuberculate.
= 48.
Silene suksdorfii
Silene douglasii
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.)
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).
Silene douglasii is usually readily recognized by its characteristic short, retrorse, grayish-white, eglandular pubescence on the calyx and pedicels. This, together with the usual absence of lateral teeth on the petals, appears to be the only reliable character separating it from S. parryi. However, intermediates between the two species occur, and it is probable that the occasional plants of S. douglasii with stipitate-glandular hairs in the inflorescence (e.g., var. rupinae and some plants that have been referred to var. monantha) have arisen through gene exchange with S. parryi, although it should be noted that A. R. Kruckeberg (1961) reported that such hybrids, when artificially produced, were sterile.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaf blades 3-13 mm wide, 0.3-0.7 mm thick, fleshy; calyces strongly inflated, (4-)7-10(-12) mm diam. at anthesis; petal limbs 5-11 mm wide, often with lateral tooth on each side; coastal Oregon | var. oraria |
1. Leaf blades 1.5-9 mm wide, 0.1-0.5 mm thick, not fleshy; calyces not strongly inflated, (3-)5-8(-10) mm diam. at anthesis; petal limbs 1-5 mm wide, usually without lateral teeth; widespread in w North America | → 2 |
2. Leaf blades 1.5-5 mm wide, typically over 15 times longer than wide, ± linear; pubescence on inflorecences and calyces often glandular; cliffs and ledges of Columbia River gorge | Silene douglasii var. rupinae |
2. Leaf blades 2-9 mm wide, typically 5-10 times longer than wide, oblanceolate to elliptic to broadly linear; pubescence on inflorescences and calyces eglandular (very rarely with few stipitate glands); widespread in w North America | var. douglasii |
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