Silene acaulis
Silene drummondii
moss campion, silène acaule
Drummond's campion, Drummond's catchfly, fork catchfly
erect, simple or several from base, retrorsely puberulent proximally, densely so and viscid distally, with stipitate glands.
erect, leafy proximally, 3–6(–15) cm, old leaves persistent at base.
mostly basal, densely crowded and imbricate, sessile;
blade 1(–3)-veined, linear-subulate to lanceolate, 0.4–1(–1.5) cm × 0.8–1.5(–2) mm, margins cartilaginous, often ciliolate especially proximally, apex acute, glabrous to scabrous.
blade with stiff, appressed pubescence on both surfaces;
basal petiolate, blade lanceolate to elliptic or oblanceolate, (1.5–)3–10 cm × 4–12 mm (including petiole);
cauline in 2–5 pairs, blade linear to linear-lanceolate, 3–9 cm × 2–7 mm.
solitary flowers.
1–20-flowered, bracteate, strongly viscid-glandular or less densely pubescent, longer hairs sometimes purple-septate;
bracts narrowly lanceolate, thick, 3–15 mm, herbaceous, apex acuminate.
2–40 mm.
stiffly erect, 0.1–5 cm, varying in length within same inflorescence.
bisexual or unisexual, all plants having both staminate and pistillate flowers, others having only pistillate flowers, subsessile or borne singly on peduncle;
calyx 10-veined, lateral veins absent, tubular to campanulate, (5–)7–10 mm, herbaceous, margins often purple tinged, dentate, sometimes ciliate, ± scarious, glabrous, lobes lanceolate to ovate, 1–2 mm;
petals bright pink, rarely white, limb unlobed to shallowly 2-fid, 2.5–3.5 mm, base tapered into claw, auricles and appendages poorly developed;
stamens exserted in staminate flowers, not so or aborted in pistillate flowers;
styles 3.
calyx 10-veined, broadly tubular to narrowly ellipsoid, not inflated, 12–18 × 4–8 mm in fruit, 2–3 times as long as broad, membranous between veins, margins dentate with 5 triangular, 1.2–2 mm lobes erect in flower and spreading in fruit, apex acuminate, veins green;
petals off-white to dusky pink or dingy reddish purple, clawed, equaling or to 11/2 times calyx, claw broadened distally, limb not differentiated from claw, narrower than claw, 1–3 mm;
stamens included in calyx;
styles (4–)5, included in calyx.
3-locular, cylindric, equaling or to 2 times calyx, opening by 6 recurved teeth;
carpophore ca. 1 mm.
12–15 mm, equaling calyx (rarely to 11/2 times calyx), opening by (4–)5 spreading teeth.
light brown, reniform, 0.8–1(–1.2) mm broad, dull, shallowly rugose.
dark brown, not winged, reniform to angular, 0.7–1 mm diam., margins finely papillate;
papillae triangular, slender, longer than broad.
= 24.
Silene acaulis
Silene drummondii
Silene acaulis is a variable species, and most workers have recognized infraspecific taxa in North America: subsp. acaulis (subsp. exscapa and subsp. arctica), which is predominantly arctic; and subsp. subacaulescens, which extends down the Rocky Mountains from Alaska to Arizona and New Mexico. In subsp. acaulis, the leaves are flat and short and the flowers are subsessile and smaller in size. Subspecies subacaulescens is typically a larger, less-compact plant with longer, narrower leaves and larger, pedunculate flowers. However, in many populations, these two variants are poorly differentiated, and in others both occur together, connected by intermediates.
Silene acaulis is widely distributed in arctic and alpine Europe.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Subspecies drummondii is characteristically a prairie taxon, while subsp. striata is associated with the Rocky Mountains. However, the two taxa frequently appear to intergrade; e.g., in the Cypress Hills of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, and in the southern Rockies. Variety kruckebergii appears to be a luxuriant form with a more elongate capsule and calyx. Silene invisa, a Californian species, is similar to S. drummondii, some plants of which, from Nevada and Arizona, tend to be intermediate (see note under S. invisa).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Petals equaling calyx; fruiting calyces 12-15 × 4-6 mm, 21/ 4-3 times as long as broad; seeds ca. 0.7 mm diam.; inflorescences typically (1-)3-10(-20)-flowered | subsp. drummondii |
1. Petals 11/ 1/ 2 times calyx and clearly exserted from it; fruiting calyces 13-18 × 6-8 mm, ca. 2 times as long as broad; seeds ca. 1 mm diam.; inflorescences typically 1-4(-8)-flowered | subsp. striata |
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