Silene verecunda
Silene bernardina
Dolores campion, San Francisco campion
mountain catchfly, Palmer's campion, Palmer's catchfly
usually several–many, rarely 1, erect, leafy, 10–55 cm, base often decumbent with marcescent leaf bases, scabrous-puberulent to pubescent, usually ± viscid-glandular distally, rarely densely so.
not much- branched, slender, (15–)30–60 cm, sparsely pubescent proximally, viscid-glandular distally.
2 per node;
basal petiolate, blade linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 3–10 cm × 2–13 mm (including petiole), apex acute, glabrous to scabrous-puberulent or softly pubescent, petiole often ciliate;
cauline sessile or petiolate, connate proximally, reduced distally, blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2–10 cm × 2–8 mm.
mostly basal;
blade linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, 2–8 cm × 2–6(–15) mm (including petiole), base tapered into slender petiole, apex acute to obtuse, subglabrous to glandular-pubescent on both surfaces;
cauline leaves to 4 pairs below inflorescence, narrower than basal leaves, blade usually linear but rarely elliptic-lanceolate.
cymose with elongate ascending branches, open, flowers (1–)3 to many, bracteate, bracteolate;
bracts and bracteoles lanceolate, 3–20 mm, apex acuminate.
erect, with several short, ascending branches, few-flowered, open, bracteate, shortly pubescent and viscid-glandular;
bracts narrowly lanceolate, 3–10 mm, rigid.
1/4–3 times longer than calyx, scabrous-puberulous to pubescent and glandular, ± viscid.
calyx prominently 10-veined, tubular in flower, ± clavate and contracted around carpophore in fruit, 10–14 × 4–6 mm, margins dentate, veins parallel, green (rarely purplish), with pale commissures, lobes ascending, lanceolate, 2–3 mm, margins usually with obtuse, membranous border, apex spreading, shortly glandular-pubescent, usually viscid;
corolla off-white (greenish) to dusky pink, clawed, claw equaling calyx, limb obovate, 2-lobed, 3–7 mm, shorter than claw, rarely with small lateral teeth, appendages 2, usually lacerate, 1–2 mm;
stamens ca. equaling petals;
styles 3(–4), often much longer than petals.
calyx prominently 10-veined, broadly tubular, umbilicate, moderately or not clavate, narrowed around carpophore, lobed, 12–15 × 4–6 mm, thin and papery, with short glandular-viscid pubescence, veins parallel, usually red pigmented, with pale commissures;
lobes lanceolate, 2–4 mm, apex acute;
petals white, pink, or dingy red, 11/2–2 times calyx, claw equaling calyx, ciliate at base, limb obtriangular, 4–6 mm, deeply divided into 4 linear lobes, appendages 2, conspicuous, laciniate, 2–3 mm, apex rounded;
stamens slightly exserted;
filaments ciliate at base;
styles 3(–4), equaling or longer than stamens.
ovoid-ellipsoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) recurved teeth;
carpophore 2–5 mm.
1-locular, narrowly ovoid, exceeding calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) ascending teeth;
carpophore 3–6 mm.
dark reddish brown to black, reniform, ca. 1.5 mm, papillate, with larger papillae around margins.
brown, reniform, 1.5–2 mm broad, shallowly tuberculate on both surfaces, papillate around margins.
= 48.
= 48.
Silene verecunda
Silene bernardina
Silene verecunda is an exceptionally variable species, very difficult to circumscribe and tending to intergrade with S. bernardina, S. oregana, and S. grayi. It differs from the first two of those species mainly in having two-lobed petals. Silene grayi is a much smaller cespitose alpine plant with very large seeds. Hitchcock and Maguire divided S. verecunda into subsp. verecunda, subsp. platyota, and subsp. andersonii. Of these, subsp. andersonii is the most distinct, with a scabrous-puberulent indumentum, very narrow, stiff leaves, and rigid stems that are decumbent at the base, with marcescent leaf bases. The claw of the petals also is often more uniformly ciliate. Subspecies verecunda has a very different appearance, its mature calyx being shorter, broader, and markedly clavate. It is a short, stocky, viscid-glandular plant of exposed coastal habitats and may simply be a local ecotype. Subspecies platyota encompasses the remainder of the variation in the complex. Most of this variation consists of plants with fewer flowering stems; softer pubescence; broader, flat leaves; and thinner, more papery calyces. All these forms of S. verecunda appear to intergrade freely and, based on current information, any separation would be arbitrary. The species is in need of an experimental study to determine the nature of variation and its taxonomic value.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Silene bernardina is the earliest valid name for this species. Watson had previously (1875) named it S. montana, and that name was taken up by C. L. Hitchcock and B. Maguire (1947), who cited S. bernardina as a subspecies of S. montana. Unfortunately, the epithet montana is pre-occupied in Silene by S. montana Arrondeau (1863), an unrelated European species. The situation was further complicated by Watson in 1877, when he used the name Lychnis montana for another unrelated species now transferred to Silene and called S. hitchguirei.
Silene bernardina varies in leaf width, pubescence, and flower color. The broader-leaved and more sparsely pubescent forms have been referred to subsp. bernardina, and the more-common, narrower-leaved, more-densely pubescent, and viscid forms have been referred to subsp. maguirei.
Some forms of Silene bernardina can be difficult to distinguish from S. verecunda, S. sargentii, and S. oregana. Silene verecunda differs in its smaller, clavate calyx and in its petals being only shortly two-lobed. Silene sargentii is a small, densely cespitose, high-alpine species with very narrow, linear leaves (1–2 mm wide), shortly two-lobed petals, and seeds with much larger papillae around the margins. In S. oregana the petals are larger (two times the calyx) and deeply divided into many very narrow segments; the claw and the filaments are glabrous; the leaves, particularly the basal ones, are broader; and the inflorescences are narrower, with the more numerous flowers arranged on short, ascending branches; also, the calyx lobes are ovate and obtuse instead of lanceolate and acute. The Idaho material tends to be intermediate with S. oregana but has open, dichotomously branched inflorescences, and the petals are nearer to those of S. bernardina. These plants from Valley County in the Payette National Forest need further study, preferably in the field. They may represent a distinct taxon.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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