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

night-flowering campion, night-flowering catchfly, nightflowering silene, silène noctiflore, sticky cockle

Habit Plants perennial, cespitose, with decumbent subterranean shoots; taproot stout; caudex branched, woody. Plants annual, densely pubescent throughout, viscid-glandular, especially distally; taproot slender.
Stems

numerous, erect, simple, 3–15 cm, pubescent, viscid-glandular distally.

erect, simple proximal to inflorescence or with few basal branches, branched distally, to 75 cm.

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.

2 per node, gradually reduced distally;

basal blades oblanceolate, 6–12(–14) cm × 20–45 mm;

cauline blades ascending, conspicuously veined, broadly elliptic to lanceolate, 1–11 cm × 3–40 mm, apex acute, shortly acuminate, densely pubescent on both surfaces.

Inflorescences

flowers terminal, solitary, or in single dichotomy, bracteate;

bracts leaflike, 3–15 mm.

cymose, 3–15-flowered, bracteate;

cyme open, flowers held on ascending branches;

bracts leaflike, narrowly lanceolate, 1–5 cm, apex acuminate.

Pedicels

erect, ca. equaling calyx, viscid glandular-pubescent, hairs with purple septa.

ascending, straight, 1/3–3 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.

nocturnal, 20–25 mm diam.;

calyx prominently 10-veined, ovate-elliptic, fusiform, narrowed to both ends and constricted around carpophore, 15–24(–40) × ca. 3 mm in flower, swelling to 10 mm diam. in fruit, thin and papery, margins dentate, with pale commissures;

lobes erect, often recurved in fruit, linear-lanceolate, long, narrow, (3–)5–10(–15) mm, apex acuminate, short-pubescent, glandular, interspersed with long eglandular hairs, veins anastomosing;

corolla white, often pink tinged, clawed, claw equaling calyx lobes, limb deeply 2-lobed, lobes usually narrow, appendages 0.5–1.5 mm broad, margins entire or erose;

stamens shorter than petals;

styles 3, shorter than petals.

Capsules

equaling calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) teeth;

carpophore 2.5–3.5 mm.

ovoid, constricted at mouth, equaling or slightly longer than calyx tube, opening by 6 recurved teeth;

carpophore 1–3 mm.

Seeds

brown, broadly winged, reniform, 1–2 mm, rugose-tessellate.

dark brown to black, with gray bloom, broadly reniform, 0.8–1 mm, strongly tuberculate.

2n

= 48.

= 24.

Silene suksdorfii

Silene noctiflora

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Alpine ridges, gravel slopes, talus Arable land, disturbed ground
Elevation 1600-3000 m (5200-9800 ft) 0-3000 m (0-9800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AL; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; IA; ID; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Europe [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 noctiflora is sometimes confused with S. latifolia, but they are very different species. Silene noctiflora differs in having perfect flowers with long, very narrow calyx teeth and an elliptic, fruiting calyx that is narrow at the mouth and constricted around the capsule base. It also has three styles and a capsule that dehisces by six teeth; S. latifolia has (four or) five styles and a capsule that dehisces by five bifid teeth. The flowers of S. noctiflora, as its name indicates, are nocturnal and moth-pollinated.

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

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 209. FNA vol. 5, p. 194.
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. 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
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. 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. suksdorfii, S. thurberi, S. uralensis, S. verecunda, S. virginica, S. viscaria, S. vulgaris, S. williamsii, S. wrightii
Synonyms Melandrium noctiflorum
Name authority B. L. Robinson: Bot. Gaz. 16: 44, plate 6, figs. 9–11. (1891) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 419. (1753)
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