Silene - Catchfly, Campion
by  Jorge Saldivia

Table of Contents

Higher Taxon
Description
Species List
S. stellata
S. virginica
Identification Guide
References
Acknowledgements

Higher Taxon:

Family    Caryophyllaceae - The Pink Family
                                            The Carnation Family 

Description:

" Annual, biennial or perennial herbs, rarely geophytes or small shrubs, sometimes caespitose, monoecious or rarely gynodioecious or dioecious; flowers solitary or in dichasial or monochasial, sometimes +/- capitate cymes; anthophore present; calyx tubular, 10-30 (-60)-nerved, sometimes strongly inflated, with 5 teeth; petals 5, rarely   none, variously coloured, clawed, limb entire to deeply lobed, often with coronal scales, claw glabrous or ciliate;  stamens 10; styles 3(-5), ovary 1- or 3(-5)-celled at base, 1-celled above; capsule opening usually by twice as many teeth as styles present, (1-) many-seeded; seeds +/- reniform, compressed, variously sculptured; (2n = 20, 24, 34, 48, 72, ca.96, ca.120, 240, 384?).  SIlene in this wide circumscription is tentatively subdivided into more than 20 sections, but knowledge of this large genus is still incomplete.  Nearly 700 spp.; in Eurasia (ca.600 spp.), Africa (ca.40 spp.), N America (ca.50 spp.), with two centres of distribution:  (1) the Pamir and Hindukush region and adjacent areas, and (2) Transcaucasia, Azerbaijan, and Kurdistan." (Kubitzki, 1993)

*Note*  "As knowledge of several genera of the Family [Caryophyllaceae] is still rather poor, it is at present impossible to apply a consistent genus concept." (Kubitzki, 1993)

Species List: (Coile & Jones, 1985)

S. antirrhina - Sleepy Catchfly
S. armeria -
S. caroliniana - Wild Pink, Rock Catchfly
S. dichotoma -
S. nivea - White Campion
S. ovata -
S. polypetala -
S. pratensis - White Campion
S. rotundifolia -
S. stellata - Starry Campion
S. virginica - Fire Pink
S. vulgaris - Bladder Campion

    While this is only a listing of all the species found in Georgia (Coile & Jones, 1985), the actual   number of species within the genus Silene has been estimated at nearly 700 (Kubitzki, 1993).  For a full listing of the species within Silene, refer to the Index Kuwensis.

Identification Guide:

   Kubitzki (1993) holds that the "seed morphology, especially the form of testa cells, was variously found to be of great diagnostic value mainly for separating taxa at the species level."

General Information:  

   The genus Silene, along with most of the Family Caryophyllaceae, does not yield and true economic benefits as of yet.  The species are mainly utilized for their ornamental value.  Silene can be found in the Northern Hemisphere with a strong concentration in the Mediterranean Region (Heywood, 1978).  All three subfamilies of Caryophyllaceae secrete nectar at the base of the stamen, but only the long tongued insects can reach the nectar of the subfamily Silenoideae, to which Silene belongs, since the calyx-tube excludes short-tongued insects (Hickey & King, 1988).   The petals of Silene are shriveled during the day and open only in the evenings at which time pollination can occur by night active Lepidoptera (Kubitzki, 1993).

References:

• Campbell, Carlos C., Aaron J. Sharp, Robert W. Hutson & William F. Hutson.  1995.  Great Smoky Mountain Wildflowers, 5th ed.   Windy Pines Publishing.  Northbrook.

• Coile, Nancy C. & Samuel B. Jones, Jr.  1985.   The Georgia Plant List.  UGA Herbarium.  Athens, Ga.

• Coile, Nancy C. & Samuel B. Jones, Jr.  Plant List for Clarke County, Georgia.  UGA Herbarium.  Athens, Ga.

• Cronquist, Arthur.  1981.  An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants.  Columbia University Press.  New York.   ISBN 0-231-03880-1.

• Heywood, V. H. 1978.  Flowering Plants of the World.   Mayflower Books, Inc.  New York.  ISBN 0-8317-3400-0.

• Hickey, Michael & Claire King.  1988.   100 Families of Flowering Plants, 2nd ed.  Cambridge University Press.   New York. ISBN 0-521-33049.

• Jackson, B. Daydon.  1960.  Index Kuwensis, Tomus II K-Z; An Enumeration of the Genera and Species of Flowering Plants, Vol. II.  Clarendon Press.   Oxford.  New York.

• Kubitzki, K.  1993.  The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, Vol. II.  Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.  Germany. ISBN 3-540-55509-9.

• Steere, William C.  1967. Wildflowers of the United States: The Southeastern States, Vol. II.  McGraw-Hill Book Company.  New York.

Acknowledgements:

   I would like to thank Beth Shapiro for her assistance and patience.  I would also like to thank Michael Boutin for his help in developing this site.

Table of Contents
  S. stellata S. virginica
Species List