Silene suksdorfii
Silene sorensenis
Cascade alpine campion, Cascade alpine catchfly, Cascade catchfly, Suksdorf's catchfly, Suksdorf's silene
sorensen's catchfly, three-flower campion
numerous, erect, simple, 3–15 cm, pubescent, viscid-glandular distally.
simple below flowering region, stout, 5–30 cm, pubescent, viscid-glandular, densely so distally, ciliate at nodes, hairs with purple septa.
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.
basal petiolate, tufted, petiole to length of blade, broad, blade oblanceolate, 1–8 cm × 2–8 mm, fleshy, base blunt, tapering into petiole, margins ciliate, apex ± acute, glabrous (rarely pubescent) on both surfaces;
cauline in 1–2 pairs, sessile, connate proximally, blade narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 5–30 × 1.5–5 mm, apex purple-tipped, ± acute, pubescence as in basal leaves.
flowers terminal, solitary, or in single dichotomy, bracteate;
bracts leaflike, 3–15 mm.
cymose, single, terminal, congested, 1–3-flowered, bracteate, rarely with 1 or 2 flowers in axil of mid-stem leaves (occasionally branched with 2 or 3 erect, elongate branches), densely woolly with purple septate hairs of various lengths, longest equaling pedicel diam.;
bracts leaflike, lanceolate, 4–10 mm.
erect, ca. equaling calyx, viscid glandular-pubescent, hairs with purple septa.
stout, usually much shorter than calyx, rarely to 2 times as long, or flowers sessile.
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 broadly 10-veined, ovate-campanulate, ca. 10 × 6 mm in flower, enlarging to 15 × 10 mm in fruit, base round, narrowed to ca. 1/2 its diam. at mouth, margins dentate, teeth purple, ovate-obtuse, ca. 2 mm, pubescence densely glandular, viscid, partially obscuring the broad veins;
corolla white to dingy pink, clawed, claw equaling calyx, limb obovate, 2-lobed, 3–5 mm, appendages 2, oblong, ca. 1 mm, margins crenulate;
stamens equaling petals;
styles 5, equaling petals.
equaling calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) teeth;
carpophore 2.5–3.5 mm.
included in calyx, dehiscing by 5 teeth, often splitting into 10;
carpophore 1–1.5 mm.
brown, broadly winged, reniform, 1–2 mm, rugose-tessellate.
brown, not winged, triangular-reniform, ca. 1 mm, spinose-papillate.
= 48.
= 72.
Silene suksdorfii
Silene sorensenis
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 sorensenis usually is readily separable from most other arctic silenes by the dense purplish pubescence that tends to obscure its calyx venation, the nonwinged seeds, and the congested flowers. Specimens of S. taimyrensis in the western arctic can resemble S. sorensenis but are distinguishable by their smaller seeds and calyx, more-slender stems, and hairs that are shorter than the diameter of the pedicel. Apparent hybrids with S. involucrata are occasionally encountered. A. Nygren (1951) considered S. sorensenis to be of amphidiploid origin involving S. uralensis and S. involucrata.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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