Silene occidentalis is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names western catchfly[1] and western campion.
| Silene occidentalis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Herbarium specimen, subsp. longistipata | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Caryophyllaceae |
| Genus: | Silene |
| Species: | S. occidentalis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Silene occidentalis S.Watson 1875
| |
It is endemic to northern California, where it is known from the southern Cascade Range and sections of the Modoc Plateau and Sierra Nevada. It grows in chaparral and mountain forest habitat.
Description
editSilene occidentalis is a perennial herb growing from a woody, leafy caudex and taproot, sending up an erect, mostly unbranched stem which may be 60 centimeters tall. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 12 centimeters long around the caudex, and shorter farther up the stem. Flowers occur in a terminal cyme and sometimes in leaf axils. Each flower is encapsulated in a hairy, glandular calyx of fused sepals. The calyx in this species can be very long, nearly 4 centimeters in length in subspecies longistipata. At the end are five pink petals, each with usually four fringelike lobes at the tip.
References
edit- ^ NRCS. "Silene occidentalis". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 15 November 2015.
External links
edit- Jepson Manual Treatment of Silene occidentalis
- USDA Plants Profile for Silene occidentalis
- Flora of North America
- UC Photos gallery: Silene occidentalis
 | This Caryophyllaceae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |