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Silene acaulis

moss campion, silène acaule

Scouler's campion, Scouler's catchfly, Scouler's siliene, simple campion

Habit Plants perennial, mat- or cushion-forming, subglabrous; taproot stout; caudex much-branched, becoming woody. Plants perennial; taproot stout; caudex branched, woody, crowns 1–several.
Stems

erect, simple proximal to inflorescence, slender or stout, 10–80 cm, puberulent.

Flowering stems

erect, leafy proximally, 3–6(–15) cm, old leaves persistent at base.

Leaves

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.

2 per node;

basal petiolate, blade oblanceolate, 6–25 cm × 4–30 mm, retrorsely puberulent on both surfaces;

cauline in 1–12 pairs, usually sessile, blade well developed, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, oblanceolate, or rarely linear or linear-lanceolate.

Inflorescences

solitary flowers.

cymose, pseudo-racemose, or rarely paniculate, erect or nodding, with 1–12 flowering nodes, 2–20-flowered, open or dense, flowers paired or in many-flowered whorls, bracteate, cymes often sessile;

bracts 3–60 mm.

Pedicels

2–40 mm.

becoming deflexed at base of calyx, 1/4–2 times calyx, glandular-pubescent.

Flowers

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.

shortly pedicellate or sessile;

calyx prominently 10-veined, campanulate or tubular in flower, clavate, turbinate, or fusiform in fruit, constricted or not at base around carpophore in fruit, 8–20 × 3–8 mm, veins parallel, purplish or green, with pale commissures;

lobes lanceolate, 2–5 mm, apex obtuse with broad membranous margin and tip;

corolla white, greenish white, or pink, sometimes tinged pink or purple, clawed, claw longer than calyx, limb deeply 2–4-lobed, often with smaller lateral teeth, 2.5–8 mm, appendages 1–3 mm;

stamens ± equaling corolla claw;

styles 3–4, ± equaling corolla claw.

Capsules

3-locular, cylindric, equaling or to 2 times calyx, opening by 6 recurved teeth;

carpophore ca. 1 mm.

ovoid to ellipsoid, equaling or slightly longer than calyx, opening by 6 or 8 teeth;

carpophore 1.5–6 mm.

Seeds

light brown, reniform, 0.8–1(–1.2) mm broad, dull, shallowly rugose.

brown or grayish brown, reniform, 1–1.5 mm, margins papillate, rugose on sides.

2n

= 24.

Silene acaulis

Silene scouleri

Phenology Flowering early summer.
Habitat Arctic and alpine tundra, gravelly, often wet places, rocky ledges
Elevation 0-4200 m (0-13800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CO; ID; ME; MT; NH; NM; NV; NY; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Europe; Asia (Russian Far East)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 3 (3 in the flora).

Silene scouleri is a very complex species that appears to be in the process of diverging into at least three different entities. Subspecies scouleri is a plant of the Pacific coast and lowlands. It has tall, stiffly erect stems, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate leaves, and a viscid inflorescence with many-flowered whorls of almost sessile flowers ranging in color from greenish white to rich pink. At the other extreme is subsp. pringlei, a plant of the mountains in Mexico extending northwards into Arizona and New Mexico. It has slender, somewhat nodding flowering stems with very narrow leaves. The flowers are usually paired at each node and secund on slender pedicels about equaling the calyx in length. The petals are off-white, sometimes tinged with dusky purple. Between the two extremes is subsp. hallii, a short, stocky plant of the Rocky Mountains and foothills with a few-flowered inflorescence. It has a larger, campanulate calyx, and some of the flowers usually become deflexed. Differentiation among these three forms is incomplete and plants indeterminate to subspecies are frequently encountered in areas away from the main distribution centers of the three subspecies. In northern Oregon and Idaho there appear to be populations connecting S. scouleri with S. oregana. They have some of the characteristics of S. oregana but not its laciniate petals. They may represent a more luxuriant form growing in taller vegetation, but their status needs further study.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Calyces campanulate, not or only slightly clavate in fruit, 13-18(-20) × (5-)6-8 mm; inflorescences with (1-)3-6(-8) flowering nodes; plants 10-40cm; pedicels stout
subsp. hallii
1. Calyces tubular to narrowly clavate in flower, clavate, turbinate, or fusiform in fruit, (8-)10-16 × 3.5-7 mm; inflorescences with 3-12 flowering nodes; plants 20-80 cm; pedicels slender
→ 2
2. Inflorescences erect, flowers in dense pseudowhorls of usually sessile, (2-)5-20-flowered cymes, both sessile and pedicellate flowers in each cyme; pedicels erect
subsp. scouleri
2. Inflorescences nodding, flowers usually paired at each node, all pedicellate; pedicels ± equaling calyx, often sharply deflexed at baseof calyx
subsp. pringlei
Source FNA vol. 5, p. 173. FNA vol. 5, p. 204.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Caryophylloideae > Silene
Sibling taxa
S. antirrhina, S. aperta, S. armeria, S. bernardina, S. bridgesii, S. campanulata, S. caroliniana, S. chalcedonica, S. conica, S. coniflora, S. conoidea, S. coronaria, S. csereii, S. dichotoma, S. dioica, S. douglasii, S. drummondii, S. flos-cuculi, S. gallica, S. grayi, S. hitchguirei, S. hookeri, S. invisa, S. involucrata, S. kingii, S. laciniata, S. latifolia, S. lemmonii, S. marmorensis, S. menziesii, S. nachlingerae, S. nivea, S. noctiflora, S. nuda, S. occidentalis, S. oregana, S. ostenfeldii, S. ovata, S. parishii, S. parryi, S. pendula, S. petersonii, S. plankii, S. polypetala, S. pseudatocion, S. rectiramea, S. regia, S. repens, S. rotundifolia, S. sargentii, S. scaposa, S. scouleri, S. seelyi, S. serpentinicola, S. sibirica, S. sorensenis, S. spaldingii, S. stellata, S. subciliata, S. suecica, S. suksdorfii, S. thurberi, S. uralensis, S. verecunda, S. virginica, S. viscaria, S. vulgaris, S. williamsii, S. wrightii
S. acaulis, S. antirrhina, S. aperta, S. armeria, S. bernardina, S. bridgesii, S. campanulata, S. caroliniana, S. chalcedonica, S. conica, S. coniflora, S. conoidea, S. coronaria, S. csereii, S. dichotoma, S. dioica, S. douglasii, S. drummondii, S. flos-cuculi, S. gallica, S. grayi, S. hitchguirei, S. hookeri, S. invisa, S. involucrata, S. kingii, S. laciniata, S. latifolia, S. lemmonii, S. marmorensis, S. menziesii, S. nachlingerae, S. nivea, S. noctiflora, S. nuda, S. occidentalis, S. oregana, S. ostenfeldii, S. ovata, S. parishii, S. parryi, S. pendula, S. petersonii, S. plankii, S. polypetala, S. pseudatocion, S. rectiramea, S. regia, S. repens, S. rotundifolia, S. sargentii, S. scaposa, S. seelyi, S. serpentinicola, S. sibirica, S. sorensenis, S. spaldingii, S. stellata, S. subciliata, S. suecica, S. suksdorfii, S. thurberi, S. uralensis, S. verecunda, S. virginica, S. viscaria, S. vulgaris, S. williamsii, S. wrightii
Subordinate taxa
S. scouleri subsp. hallii, S. scouleri subsp. pringlei, S. scouleri subsp. scouleri
Synonyms Cucubalus acaulis, S. acaulis subsp. arctica, S. acaulis var. exscapa, S. acaulis subsp. subacaulescens, S. exscapa, Xamilensis acaulis
Name authority (Linnaeus) Jacquin: Enum. Stirp. Vindob., 78, 242. (1762) Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 88. (1830)
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