Silene bernardina

S. Watson

Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 24: 82. 1889.

Common names: Palmer’s catchfly
Illustrated
Synonyms: Silene bernardina subsp. maguirei Bocquet Silene bernardina var. rigidula (B. L. Robinson) Tiehm Silene bernardina var. sierrae (C. L. Hitchcock & Maguire) Bocquet Silene occidentalis var. nancta Jepson Silene shockleyi
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 175. Mentioned on page 171, 202, 212.

Plants perennial, loosely cespitose; taproot stout; caudex branched, woody, bearing tufts of leaves. Stems not much branched, slender, (15–) 30–60 cm, sparsely pubescent proximally, viscid-glandular distally. Leaves 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. Inflorescences erect, with several short, ascending branches, few-flowered, open, bracteate, shortly pubescent and viscid-glandular; bracts narrowly lanceolate, 3–10 mm, rigid. Flowers: 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. Capsules 1-locular, narrowly ovoid, exceeding calyx, opening by 6 (or 8) ascending teeth; carpophore 3–6 mm. Seeds brown, reniform, 1.5–2 mm broad, shallowly tuberculate on both surfaces, papillate around margins. 2n = 48.


Phenology: Flowering summer.
Habitat: Dry, grassy or gravelly slopes, open woodlands
Elevation: 1300-3600 m

Distribution

V5 346-distribution-map.gif

Calif., Idaho, Nev., Oreg., Wash., Mexico (Baja California)

Discussion

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.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

No values specified."narrower" is not a number.

... more about "Silene bernardina"
awned +  and not hooded +
subglabrous +  and glandular-pubescent +
rounded;acute;acute;obtuse +
John K. Morton +
S. Watson +
tapered +
dentate +, emarginate to 2-fid +  and entire +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
elliptic-lanceolate +, linear-lanceolate +  and oblanceolate +
rarely +  and not succulent +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
lanceolate +
reduced +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
lobed;narrowed;clavate;umbilicate;tubular +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
conspicuous +
Palmer’s catchfly +
dissected +  and variously--shaped +
dish--shaped +
expanded +
Calif. +, Idaho +, Nev. +, Oreg. +, Wash. +  and Mexico (Baja California) +
1300-3600 m +
peripheral +
subsessile +  and sessile +
conspicuous +
glandular-pubescent +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
stalked +  and simple +
Dry, grassy or gravelly slopes, open woodlands +
bracteate +, open +  and few-flowered +
sessile +  and petiolate +
whorled +  and opposite +
connate +
conspicuous +
divided;obtriangular +
4mm +  and 6mm +
purplish +  and green +
lanceolate +
swollen +
3 +  and 5 +
crassinucellate +  and bitegmic +
campylotropous +
dingy red +, pink +  and white +
fugacious +
11/2-2 times calyx +
Flowering summer. +
Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts +
papillate +  and tuberculate +
reniform +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
2.8 cm28 mm <br />0.028 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
persistent +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2.8 cm28 mm <br />0.028 m <br />) +
Illustrated +
rhizomatous +  and stoloniferous +
fewer +  and 10 +
15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
prostrate +, decumbent +  and sprawling +
ascending;erect +
slender +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (60 cm600 mm <br />0.6 m <br />) +
[30 +, 4 +, 5 +  and 3 +
papillate +
distinct +
filiform +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
Silene bernardina subsp. maguirei +, Silene bernardina var. rigidula +, Silene bernardina var. sierrae +, Silene occidentalis var. nancta +  and Silene shockleyi +
Silene bernardina +
species +
divided +
10-30-veined +
purplish +, whitish +  and green +
inflated +, terete +, cylindric +  and campanulate urceolate or clavate +
membranous +
3 (?) +  and 5 (?) +
red pigmented +
stoloniferous +, rhizomatous +  and taprooted +
plant +  and cespitose +
pubescence of simple hairs or stalked glands +  and glabrous +