Silene suksdorfii
Silene plankii
Cascade alpine campion, Cascade alpine catchfly, Cascade catchfly, Suksdorf's catchfly, Suksdorf's silene
plank's catchfly, Rio Grande fire pink
numerous, erect, simple, 3–15 cm, pubescent, viscid-glandular distally.
ascending, branched, wiry, leafy, slender, 10–20 cm, finely retrorse gray-puberulent.
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.
largest in mid-stem region;
blade linear to narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, 1–4 cm × 1–5 mm, apex sharply acuminate, glandular-puberulent.
flowers terminal, solitary, or in single dichotomy, bracteate;
bracts leaflike, 3–15 mm.
with flowers usually solitary, terminal on branches.
erect, ca. equaling calyx, viscid glandular-pubescent, hairs with purple septa.
shorter than calyx, glandular-puberulent.
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 10-veined, tubular, constricted around carpophore, umbilicate, 20–30 × 3–6 mm, papery, green, glandular-puberulent, lobes lanceolate, 2–4 mm, margins membranous, apex acute;
corolla scarlet, clawed, claw equaling calyx, limb obconic, 2-lobed, 7–10 mm, margins entire or crenate, appendages ± lacerate, 1–1.5 mm;
stamens exserted, ± equaling corolla lobes;
styles 3, exserted, ± equaling corolla lobes.
equaling calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) teeth;
carpophore 2.5–3.5 mm.
narrowly ellipsoid, equaling calyx, opening by 6 recurved, brittle teeth;
carpophore ca. 5 mm.
brown, broadly winged, reniform, 1–2 mm, rugose-tessellate.
brown, reniform, 1.5 mm, rugose in concentric rings on sides, margins papillate.
= 48.
= 48.
Silene suksdorfii
Silene plankii
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.)
Of conservation concern.
Silene plankii is a close relative of S. laciniata, differing in its compact tufted growth, small and narrow leaves, and shallowly two-lobed petals. It is endemic to the Del Carmen Mountains on either side of the Rio Grande valley. Plants of S. laciniata with a habit and leaves similar to S. plankii but the deeply laciniate petals of S. laciniata occur on the cliffs of Santa Cruz Island off the coast of California.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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