Silene suksdorfii
Silene williamsii
Cascade alpine campion, Cascade alpine catchfly, Cascade catchfly, Suksdorf's catchfly, Suksdorf's silene
Williams' catchfly
numerous, erect, simple, 3–15 cm, pubescent, viscid-glandular distally.
several–many, decumbent to erect, much-branched and sometimes matted, leafy, 5–30 cm, pubescent and glandular, at least 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, leafy above, sessile;
blade narrowly lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, broadest proximally, narrowed to base, 1–5 cm × 3–8 mm, apex acute, short-pubescent and ± glandular on both surfaces.
flowers terminal, solitary, or in single dichotomy, bracteate;
bracts leaflike, 3–15 mm.
cymose, loose, leafy, compound, or flowers terminal, axillary in distal nodes.
erect, ca. equaling calyx, viscid glandular-pubescent, hairs with purple septa.
0.5–1(–3) cm, glandular-pubescent.
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.
unisexual, all plants having both staminate and pistillate flowers;
calyx obscurely 10-veined, ovate-campanulate, 9–11 × 4–6 mm, herbaceous, papery, pubescence rather dense, glandular, ± obscuring veins, veins slender, without conspicuous pale commissures, lobes lanceolate, ca. 2 mm, apex acute to acuminate;
corolla white, clawed, claw shorter than calyx, limb oblong, 2-lobed, 1.5–3 mm, lobes lanceolate, apex acute, appendages linear, 0.3–0.5 mm;
stamens equaling corolla;
stigmas 3, slender, equaling corolla, papillate only at tip.
equaling calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) teeth;
carpophore 2.5–3.5 mm.
straw colored, ovoid-ellipsoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 6 teeth;
carpophore ca. 1 mm.
brown, broadly winged, reniform, 1–2 mm, rugose-tessellate.
dull brown, not winged, angular-reniform, ca. 1 mm, tuberculate.
= 48.
= 24.
Silene suksdorfii
Silene williamsii
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 williamsii is similar to S. menziesii but is readily separated by its leaves, which are broadest below the middle, its dull tuberculate seeds, and its stigmas, which are papillate only at the tip. It is also monoecious instead of functionally dioecious.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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