Silene suecica

(Loddiges) Greuter & Burdet

Willdenowia 12: 190. 1982.

Common names: Alpine pink lychnide alpine
Basionym: Lychnis suecica Loddiges Bot. Cab. 9: plate 881. 1824 Lychnis alpina Linnaeus 1753
Synonyms: Steris alpina (Linnaeus) M. Sourkova Viscaria alpina (Linnaeus) G. Don Viscaria alpina subsp. americana (Fernald) Böcher
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 208. Mentioned on page 168, 213.
Revision as of 20:08, 24 September 2019 by FNA>Volume Importer

Plants perennial, cespitose, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, nonviscid; taproot stout. Stems erect, simple, 5–35 cm, glabrous or very sparsely short-pubescent. Leaves: basal crowded, blade narrowly oblanceolate, 1–5 cm × 1–5 mm, tapered into broad ciliate base, apex acute; cauline in 2–5 pairs, sessile, connate proximally, blade narrowly lanceolate, 1–4 cm × 2–7 mm, margins ciliate, apex acute. Inflorescences cymose, congested, 6–30-flowered, bracteate, pedunculate, often with smaller pedunculate branches in distal nodes; bracts purple, lanceolate, 2–20 mm; peduncle glabrous to sparsely puberulent. Pedicels glabrous to sparsely puberulent. Flowers sessile or short-petiolate, 5–10 mm diam.; calyx purple, faintly 10-veined, campanulate, 4–6 × 3–5 mm, base attenuate into pedicel, lobes ovate, 1–1.5 mm, margins broad, membranous, apex obtuse; corolla bright pink (rarely white), limb spreading, 2-lobed to middle, 3.5–7 mm, cuneate into claw, ca. 11/4–11/2 times calyx, appendages absent; stamens ca. equaling petals; stigmas 5, ca. equaling petals. Capsules ovoid, equaling to slightly longer than calyx, opening by 5 recurved teeth; carpophore ca. 1 mm. Seeds dark brown, reniform, 0.5–0.8 mm, verrucate with crescent-shaped pattern. 2n = 24.


Phenology: Flowering summer.
Habitat: Tundra, rocky barrens, gulleys and river outwashes, grassy slopes, sea cliffs
Elevation: 0-1100 m

Distribution

V5 425-distribution-map.gif

Greenland, Nfld. and Labr., Nunavut, Que., Europe (Iceland).

Discussion

North American material of this arctic-alpine species has been regarded as distinct at the varietal and subspecific levels (M. L. Fernald 1940b; T. W. Böcher 1963) because it tends to be larger. However, the distinction is arbitrary, and some European material is as large as that from North America. A recent electrophoretic study (K. B. Haraldsen and J. Wesenberg 1993) of allozymes in populations from both continents provides no support for subdivision of this species.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Silene suecica"
John K. Morton +
(Loddiges) Greuter & Burdet +
Lychnis suecica +  and Lychnis alpina +
Alpine pink +  and lychnide alpine +
Greenland +, Nfld. and Labr. +, Nunavut +, Que. +  and Europe (Iceland). +
0-1100 m +
Tundra, rocky barrens, gulleys and river outwashes, grassy slopes, sea cliffs +
Flowering summer. +
Willdenowia +
Steris alpina +, Viscaria alpina +  and Viscaria alpina subsp. americana +
Silene suecica +
species +