Silene suksdorfii |
Silene lemmonii |
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Cascade alpine campion, Cascade alpine catchfly, Cascade catchfly, Suksdorf's catchfly, Suksdorf's silene |
Lemmon's catchfly |
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Habit | Plants perennial, cespitose, with decumbent subterranean shoots; taproot stout; caudex branched, woody. | Plants perennial; taproot stout; caudex much-branched, woody, producing short, decumbent, leafy sterile shoots and erect flowering shoots. |
Stems | numerous, erect, simple, 3–15 cm, pubescent, viscid-glandular distally. |
15–45 cm, pubescent and glandular-viscid distally, sparsely pubescent to ± glabrous proximally. |
Leaves | 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. |
mostly in dense basal tufts; basal blades oblanceolate to elliptic, 1–3.5 cm × 3–10 mm, narrowed to base, apex acute, scabrous-puberulent to subglabrous; cauline in 2–3 pairs, distal sessile, reduced, blade linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 1.5–4 cm × 2–6 mm. |
Inflorescences | flowers terminal, solitary, or in single dichotomy, bracteate; bracts leaflike, 3–15 mm. |
cymose, (1–)3–5(–7)-flowered, open, bracteate, bracteolate, pubescent and viscid with stipitate glands; cyme open, slender-branched; bracts and bracteoles narrowly lanceolate, 2–15 mm, herbaceous. |
Pedicels | erect, ca. equaling calyx, viscid glandular-pubescent, hairs with purple septa. |
divaricate, often curved near apex and/or at base, slender, 1/2–2 times longer than calyx. |
Flowers | 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 prominently 10-veined, campanulate, 6–10 × 2–4 mm in flower, broadening in fruit and becoming obconic with ± constricted base, ± as broad as long, pubescent and glandular, veins parallel, with pale commissures, lobes triangular, 1–2 mm, margins broad, membranous, apex acute; corolla yellowish white, sometimes tinged with pink, clawed, claw equaling or longer than calyx, limb deeply lobed, lobes 4, linear, 4–8 mm, appendages 2, narrow, ca. 1 mm; stamens exserted, equaling petals; styles 3, filamentous, much longer than petals and stamens, exceeding 2 times calyx. |
Capsules | equaling calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) teeth; carpophore 2.5–3.5 mm. |
obovoid, equaling calyx and often splitting it, opening by 6 recurved teeth; carpophore 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | brown, broadly winged, reniform, 1–2 mm, rugose-tessellate. |
rusty brown, often with gray bloom, broadly reniform, 1–1.8 mm, coarsely papillate. |
2n | = 48. |
= 48. |
Silene suksdorfii |
Silene lemmonii |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Alpine ridges, gravel slopes, talus | Woodlands and forests, often in moist situations |
Elevation | 1600-3000 m (5200-9800 ft) | 200-2800 m (700-9200 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA
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CA; OR
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Discussion | 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.) |
Silene lemmonii has typical moth-pollinated flowers. It is closely related to S. bridgesii and appears to intergrade with it. However, the small size of S. lemmonii and the presence of a compact growth of short, leafy sterile shoots usually distinguish it from S. bridgesii. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 209. | FNA vol. 5, p. 192. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. palmeri | |
Name authority | B. L. Robinson: Bot. Gaz. 16: 44, plate 6, figs. 9–11. (1891) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 342. (1875) |
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