Silene L.
Sp. Pl. 416. 1753.
Cucubalus L.
Gastrolychnis (Fenzl) Rchb.
Melandrium Röhl.
Wahlbergella Fr.
Vegetative morphology. Plants 2–30 cm high; caespitose. Taproot present. Caudex present. Ground-level or under-ground stems horizontal, or not developed horizontally or vertically; rhizomatous, or stoloniferous; elongate, or compact; 0.8–2 mm wide (if applicable). Aerial stems erect, or erect and prostrate; glabrous, or sparsely hairy, or densely hairy; stem hairs spreading, or erect (if applicable). Leaves distributed along the stems, or in a basal tuft. Leaf blade bases attenuate. Blades 1.5–40(–50) mm long; 1–5(–10) mm wide. Blades spreading; herbaceous; linear, or lanceolate, or oblanceolate, or spatulate; flat; appearing single-veined. Blades adaxial surface dull; glabrous, or hairy. Blades adaxial surface hairs pilose, or strigose (if applicable); simple, unbranched. Blades abaxial surface glabrous, or hairy. Blades abaxial surface hairs sparse, or moderately dense. Blades abaxial surface pilose, or strigose. Blades abaxial surface hairs white, or translucent hairs. Blade margins with non-glandular hairs. Leaf apices acute.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems glabrous, or hairy. Flowering stem hairs pubescent, or villous. Flowering stems glandular hairs present, or glandular hairs absent. Flowering stem hairs white or translucent, or white or translucent and transparent with red cross-walls. Flowers solitary, or in inflorescences. Inflorescence a dichasium. Flowers per inflorescence 1–3; medium-sized, 5–15 mm in diameter or length, or large, more than 15 mm in diameter or length. Calyx sepals 5; fused (usually more or less inflated and bladder-like); 4–15(–20) mm long. Calyx purple, or green and purple; herbaceous, or herbaceous and scarious, or membranous with prominent ribs; tubular, or bell-shaped, or ovoid, or sub-cylindrical; glabrous, or hairy; pilose, or villous. Calyx hairs glandular, or non-glandular; transparent with red cross-walls (if applicable). Calyx teeth equal or nearly so; 1.2–3 mm. Petals same length as the calyx, or longer than the calyx; 5; white, or pink, or purple; obovate, or oblanceolate; shallowly lobed; 7–20(–25) mm long. Stamens 10. Anthers yellow; ellipsoid; 0.4–1.1 mm long. Carpels 3, or 5. Ovaries ovate, or oblong. Styles 3, or 5; 0.5–6 mm long. Ovules 15–60. Fruit ovoid, or oblong; teeth 5, or 6, or 10. Fruit 6–15(–18) mm long; 3–7 mm wide; yellowish, or black, or brown. Seeds 0.6–2(–2.5) mm long; brown; with surfaces verrucose.
Chromosome information. 2n = 24, 48, 72.
Distribution. Northern hemisphere distribution: circumpolar and circumboreal; Greenland, Canada, United States, Eurasia.
Notes. The Silene uralensis/wahlbergella complex and the S. involucrata complex have been treated as Lychnis (Polunin 1940b, Scoggan 1978), Melandrium (Hultén 1968, Böcher et al. 1968, Porsild and Cody 1980), Gastrolychnis (Löve and Löve 1975a, Tzvelev 2000), or Silene (Chater et al. 1993, Cody 1996). Recent molecular evidence support the inclusion of this group of taxa in Silene as they are embedded within one of the core clades of Silene (Oxelman and Lidén 1995, Oxelman et al. 1997, Lidén et al. 2001). The S. wahlbergella/uralensis complex (characterised by broad-winged seeds and petals that are comparatively little exserted) is represented by one taxon in the eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago: the very widespread, arctic circumpolar entity Silene uralensis. The S. involucrata complex (characterised by narrow-winged or unwinged seeds and petals well exserted) is represented by the circumpolar widespread S. involucrata and two taxa with a more limited distribution in the eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago: S. sorensenis and S. ostenfeldii (see these taxa for more notes).
Illustrations. • Silene acaulis. Plants forming compact, hemispherical or flat cushions up to 50 cm in diameter. Iceland, Bolungarvík, Stigahliđ, alt. 400–590, 66°11'N, 23°22'W. Photo by A. Brysting, June 1995. • Silene involucrata. Plants growing on disturbed gravel. Nunavut, Baffin Island, Iqaluit, 26 July 1982, J.M. Gillett 19056. • Silene sorensis. Plants in flower, growing in gravel. Note fused, ovoid shaped calyx that is barely inflated and with prominent reddish lines; white, notched petals. Banks Island, Aulavik National Park, 9 July, 1999, Aiken 99–036. CAN. Scale bar in cm. • Silene taimyrensis. Plants collected in rich silty slope. N.W.T., Anderson River area, Cape Bathurst E side, brook system N of river from Lake McKinay, 0.7–1.5 km from sea, 70°29'N, 127°48'W. R. Elven, 7.-8. Aug. 1999. O. • Silene uralensis. N.W.T., Banks Island, Sachs Harbour, Plants growing in a sheltered gully, 27 July 1981, J.M. Gillett 18859.
Cite this publication as: ‘A.K. Brysting, P.J. Scott, and S.G. Aiken 2001 onwards. Caryophyllaceae of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980), Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) , and Aiken, Dallwitz et al. (1999) should also be cited (see References).
