Silene noctiflora

Population Trend:

Growing

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms:

1. Melandrium noctiflorum (L.) Fries

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication: Sp. pl. 1:419. 1753

Name verified on 26-Mar-1996 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 26-Mar-1996

Physical Description

Family Caryophyllaceae:

Herbs annual or perennial, rarely subshrubs or shrubs. Stems and branches usually swollen at nodes. Leaves opposite, decussate, rarely alternate or verticillate, simple, entire, usually connate at base; stipules scarious, bristly, or often absent. Inflorescence of cymes or cymose panicles, rarely flowers solitary or few in racemes, capitula, pseudoverticillasters, or umbels. Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual, rarely unisexual, occasionally cleistogamous. Sepals (4 or) 5, free, imbricate, or connate into a tube, leaflike or scarious, persistent, sometimes bracteate below calyx. Petals (4 or) 5, rarely absent, free, often comprising claw and limb; limb entire or split, usually with coronal scales at juncture of claw and limb. Stamens (2--) 5--10, in 1 or 2 series. Pistil 1; carpels 2--5, united into a compound ovary. Ovary superior, 1-loculed or basally imperfectly 2--5-loculed. Gynophore present or absent. Placentation free, central, rarely basal; ovules (1 or) few or numerous, campylotropous. Styles (1 or) 2--5, sometimes united at base. Fruit usually a capsule, with pericarp crustaceous, scarious, or papery, dehiscing by teeth or valves 1 or 2 × as many as styles, rarely berrylike with irregular dehiscence or an achene. Seeds 1 to numerous, reniform, ovoid, or rarely dorsiventrally compressed, abaxially grooved, blunt, or sharply pointed, rarely fimbriate-pectinate; testa granular, striate or tuberculate, rarely smooth or spongy; embryo strongly curved and surrounding perisperm or straight but eccentric; perisperm mealy.

Between 75 and 80 genera and ca. 2000 species: widespread but mainly of temperate or warm-temperate occurrence in the N hemisphere, with principal centers of distribution in the Mediterranean region and W Asia to W China and the Himalayas, fewer species in Africa S of the Sahara, America, and Oceania; 30 genera (two endemic) and 390 species (193 endemic) in China.

Arenaria, Silene, and Stellaria contain over half the species in the family in China. They are mostly concentrated in the Qinghai-Xizang plateau, and are especially rich from the Hengduan Mountains to the Himalayas. The main uses of this family are medicinal and ornamental. Dianthus superbus, Pseudostellaria heterophylla, Stellaria dichotoma var. lanceolata, and Vaccaria hispanica are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Some species of Arenaria, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Psammosilene, and Silene are used as medicinal herbs among the people or are habitually used in local Chinese medicine. Many species of Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Saponaria, and Silene are grown as ornamentals. Atocion armeria (Linnaeus) Rafinesque ( Silene armeria Linnaeus), native to Russia and Europe, is also cultivated in China. It differs from Silene in having a corymbose inflorescence and obscure calyx veins. Wu Cheng-yih, Ke Ping, Zhou Li-hua, Tang Chang-lin & Lu De-quan. 1996. Caryophyllaceae. In: Tang Chang-lin, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 26: 47–449.^[1]

Genus Silene:

Herbs, annual, biennial, or perennial, often decumbent at base or sometimes cespitose. Taproots slender or often stout, deep, branched caudex often present, some species stoloniferous or rhizomatous. Stems simple or branched, terete or sometimes angular. Leaves opposite or occasionally whorled, connate proximally, petiolate (basal leaves) or sessile (most cauline leaves) ; blade 1-5-veined, linear to obovate or spatulate, herbaceous, apex acute to obtuse. Inflorescences terminal or sometimes axillary, simple or branched, sometimes condensed cymes, frequently flowers few or solitary, frequently glandular-pubescent and viscid; bracts paired, herbaceous or scarious, or absent; involucel bracteoles absent. Pedicels erect, rarely flowers sessile or subsessile. Flowers bisexual, sometimes unisexual (rarely so on separate plants) ; sepals connate proximally into tube, (4-) 10-28(-40) mm; tube green, whitish, and/or purplish, 10-30-veined, cylindric to campanulate, urceolate, or clavate, terete, frequently inflated, membranous or more rarely herbaceous, commissures between sepals 1-veined, herbaceous; lobes green or purplish, 1-5-veined, broadly triangular to lance-oblong or linear, usually shorter than tube, margins whitish, scarious, apex acute to obtuse; petals 5, white, pink, scarlet, dusky purple, or off-white tinged with purple, clawed, claw usually conspicuous, sometimes small, rarely absent, auricles 2, coronal appendages 2, variously shaped or dissected; limb usually exserted and conspicuous, oblanceolate to obovate, apex 2-lobed, sometimes dissected into 1-4 linear lobes or irregular teeth, or fimbriate, rarely entire; nectaries at filament bases; stamens 10, rarely fewer or absent, frequently dimorphic with longer opposite petals, arising with petals from carpophore; filaments distinct nearly to base; staminodes absent (rarely to 10 in pistillate flowers, arising with petals from carpophore, filiform) ; ovary 1- or 3-5-locular; styles 3 or 5, occasionally 4 (absent in staminate flowers), filiform, 1.5-20 mm, glabrous proximally; stigmas 3 or 5, occasionally 4, linear along adaxial surface of styles, papillate (30×) . Capsules ovoid to globose, opening along sutures into 3-5 valves, frequently splitting into 6-10 equal teeth; carpophore usually present. Seeds ca. (5-) 15-100(-500+), reddish to gray or black, reniform to globose, usually tuberculate or papillate, papillae around margins sometimes larger and inflated, marginal wing sometimes present, appendage absent; embryo peripheral, curved. x = (10) 12.

Species ca. 700: mainly Northern Hemisphere.

Silene includes several important weeds and some very beautiful horticultural plants. In addition to the species described in this account, several others have occurred in the flora area as chance introductions or garden escapes, but they have not become established and most have not been seen recently. They include S. coeli-rosa (Linnaeus) Godron, S. cretica Linnaeus, S. (Lychnis) fulgens (Fischer) E. H. L. Krause, S. italica Persoon, and S. nutans Linnaeus.

In this account, Lychnis, Melandrium, and Viscaria have been included in Silene, their previous recognition as distinct genera having resulted in a great deal of confusion in both nomenclature and taxonomy. I have not presented an infrageneric classification of Silene because existing systems either do not include those other genera (e.g., P. K. Chowdhuri 1957) or do not deal with most of our native North American taxa [e.g., W. Greuter (1995) and the molecular studies by Oxelman and coworkers (e.g., B. Oxelman et al. 1997, 2000]. The recent molecular study by J. G. Burleigh and T. P. Holtsford (2003) provides little support for existing morphologically based sectional classifications within Silene insofar as they relate to endemic North American taxa. However, it does indicate the distinctness of our arctic alpine species (S. involucrata€”as S. furcata, and S. acaulis) that are circumpolar in their distribution.^[2]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Single pink or pale pink flowers in April, May, June, July. Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. Petals 5, clawed. Limb crimson, 2cm long, 6mm broad, notched at apex, glabrous. Claw -2cm long, mostly scarious but reddish near apex, glabrous. Fornices 2, 3-4mm long, erect, red. Stamens 10, half adnate at base of petals, half not adnate to petals, exserted. Filaments 2.4cm long, glabrous, greenish-white below, reddish near apex. Anthers 3mm long, 2-lobed, greyish-green. Ovary on small gynophore(to 1.5mm long), cylindric, yellow-green, 6mm long, -2mm in diameter. Placentation free-central. Ovules many. Styles 3, white below, red above, -2cm long. Calyx tube to 1.7cm long, 5-lobed, densely glandular pubescent, often with a reddish tinge, 10-nerved, glabrous internally. Lobes acute, triangular, 4mm long. • Bloom Period: July, August. • Flower Color: near white, pale pink, white

Foliage: Narrow, strap-like lanceolate leaves. Stems and the bases of flowers are covered with sticky hairs. Leaves of basal rosette spatulate, petiolate, to +/-15cm long (with petiole), 2cm broad, acute, entire. Blades mostly glabrous. Margins ciliate, especially on petiole. Cauline leaves opposite, becoming sessile, lanceolate to lance-linear, entire, viscid glandular pubescent, acute, reduced upward, typically less than 8 pairs on a stem.

Images:

Distribution

Range and Population

North America

Native: .

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Rock gardens. Wildflower gardens. Shade gardens. • Care: Tolerates coastal conditions.

Reproduction

Duration: Annual

Growth

Culture: Space 15-18" apart.

Soil: Soil: Moderately fertile, well-drained soil.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to partial shade. Likes sun.

Moisture: Water Requirements: Drought tolerant.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Silene:

There are approximately 2,535 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: S. acaulis subacaulescens · S. acaulis typica · S. acaulis vanensis · S. ajanensis villosula · S. alba mariziana · S. amoena igoschinae · S. amurensis amurnesis · S. aprica oldhamiana · S. araratica davisii · S. balcanica uichellii · S. borysthenica parviflora · S. bupleuroides ganiatsasiana · S. bupleuroides solenocalyx · S. caesia samothracica · S. campanulata typica · S. cariensis muglae · S. caroliniana typica · S. caryophylloides binbogaensis · S. chamarensis paucifolia · S. ciliata elegans · S. colorata morisiana · S. congesta moreana · S. dichotoma apolonica · S. dioica glaberrima · S. dioica glutinosa · S. dioica lapponica · S. donetzica sillingeri · S. drummondii striata · S. flavescens dictaea · S. flos-cuculi subintegra · S. foetida gayana · S. gallica silvestris · S. glaucifolia pseudoviscosa · S. goniocaula behboudiana · S. griffithii kunarensis · S. guntensis eglandulosa · S. guntensis glabrescens · S. guntensis pistillaris · S. guntensis vallicola · S. gynodioica glandulosa · S. gynodioica peduncularis · S. hookeri typica · S. ibosii grosiana · S. inaperta serpentinicola · S. integripetala elaphonesiaca · S. integripetala greuteri · S. involucrata angustiflora · S. involucrata tenellum · S. italica hifacensis · S. italica puberula · S. italica sennenii · S. jeniseensis popovii · S. laciniata californica · S. laciniata typica · S. latifolia eriocalycina · S. latifolia mariziana · S. latifolia persica · S. littorea nana · S. longicilia cintrana · S. lucida glandulosa · S. marschallii propinqua · S. marschallii sahendica · S. melanopotamica agrostophylla · S. melanopotamica nivosimontana · S. menziesii typica · S. meyeri persica · S. mollissima pseudovelutina · S. montana typica · S. montserratii crassifolia · S. multicaulis genistifolia · S. nocturna boullui · S. nuda typica · S. nutans insubrica · S. occidentalis typica · S. odontopetala congesta · S. oligantha parnesia · S. otites hungarica · S. pardoi guarensis · S. parnassica dionysii · S. portensis rigidula · S. pratensis divaricata · S. pratensis eriocalycina · S. pratensis mariziana · S. pusilla candavica · S. pusilla malyi · S. pusilla tymphyaea · S. pyrenaica pseudoviscosa · S. repens alpina · S. repens typica · S. retzdorffiana nikolicii · S. rosulata sanctae-therasiae · S. saxifraga sennenii · S. scabriflora gallaecica · S. scabriflora macrocalycina · S. scabriflora megacalycina · S. scouleri typica · S. secundiflora macrotheca · S. spergulifolia soskae · S. tenuis chamarensis · S. tenuis iche-bogdo

Bibliography

• Bocquet, G. 1969. Revisio Physolychnidum (Silene Sect. Physolychnis)....
• Chowdhuri, P. K. 1957. Studies in the genus Silene. Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 22:244, 251.
• Davis, P. H., ed. 1965–1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. (F Turk)
• Duncan, W. H. & J. T. Kartesz. 1981. Vascular flora of Georgia: an annotated checklist. (L Georgia)
• FNA Editorial Committee. 1993–. Flora of North America. (F NAmer)
• Gleason, H. A. & A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, ed. 2. (Glea Cron ed2)
• Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984–. Med-Checklist. (L Medit)
• Harrington, H. 1954. Manual of the plants of Colorado. (F Colo)
• Hegi, G. et al. Illustrierte Flora von Mittel-Europa. ed. 1:1906-1931; ed. 2:1936-68; ed. 3:1966- (IllF MEur) 3, 2:1138.
• Hitchcock, C. L. & B. Maguire. 1947. A revision of the North American species of Silene. Univ. Wash. Publ. Biol. 13:15.
• Hitchcock, C. L. and B. Maguire. 1947. A Revision of the North American Species of Silene. Seattle. [Univ. Wash. Publ. Biol. 13.]
• Jalas, J. & J. Suominen. 1972–. Atlas florae europaeae. (Atlas Eur)
• Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. (L US Can ed2)
• Kearney, T. H. & R. H. Peebles. 1969. Arizona flora, ed. 2. (F Ariz)
• Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934–1964. Flora SSSR. (F USSR) [= Melandrium noctiflorum (L.) Fr.].
• Kruckeberg, A. R. 1962. Intergeneric hybrids in the Lychnideae (Caryophyllaceae). Brittonia 14: 311-321.
• Lehre. Burleigh, J. G. and T. P. Holtsford. 2003. Molecular systematics of the eastern North American Silene (Caryophyllaceae): Evidence from nuclear ITS and chloroplast trnL intron sequences. Rhodora 105: 76-90.
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. (Hortus 3)
• Malezasdemexico. Malezas de México - on-line resource. (Malezas Mex)
• McNeill, J. 1978. Silene alba and S. dioica in North America and the generic delimitation of Lychnis, Melandrium and Silene (Caryophyllaceae). Canad. J. Bot. 56: 297-308.
• Munz, P. A. & D. D. Keck. 1959. A California flora. (F CalifMunz)
• Oxelman, B. and M. Lidén. 1995. Generic boundaries in the tribe Sileneae (Caryophyllaceae) as inferred from nuclear rDNA sequences. Taxon 44: 525-542.
• Oxelman, B., M. Lidén, R. K. Rabeler, and M. Popp. 2000. A revised generic classification of the tribe Sileneae (Caryophyllaceae). Nordic J. Bot. 20: 743-748.
• Oxelman, B., M. Lidén, and D. Berglund. 1997. Chloroplast rps16 intron phylogeny of the tribe Sileneae (Caryophyllaceae). Pl. Syst. Evol. 206: 411-420.
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• Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. (F Carolin)
• Steyermark, J. A. 1977. Flora of Missouri. (F Missouri)
• Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1993. Flora europaea, second edition. (F Eur ed2)
• Williams, F. N. 1896b. A revision of the genus Silene Linn. J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 32: 1-196.
• Willis, J. H. 1970–1972. A handbook to plants in Victoria. (F VictWillis)

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Notes

Contributors:

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 18, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 26 providers.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 29, 2008)

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 18, 2007:

• Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen, Biologiezentrum Linz
• Bundesamt für Naturschutz / Zentralstelle für Phytodiversität Deutschland, Bundesamt fuer Naturschutz / Zentralstelle fuer Phytodiversitaet Deutschland
• Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien, Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien
• Jyväskylä University Museum - The Section of Natural Sciences, Vascular plant collection of Jyvaskyla University Museum
• NLBIF, Limnodata
• Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Vascular Plant Herbarium, Oslo
• Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Vascular Plants, Field notes, Oslo
• Oregon State University, Vascular Plant Collection
• The Swedish Museum of Natural History
• , Botany
• The Swedish Museum of Natural History
• , Herbarium of Oskarshamn
• The Swedish Museum of Natural History
• , Plants
• Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Botanical Society of the British Isles - Vascular Plants Database
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Vienna, Institute for Botany - Herbarium WU, Herbarium WU

Identifiers:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 20091
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13766916
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:90697-3
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: MENO3
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 49638

Footnotes:

1. Dequan Lu, Zhengyi Wu, Lihua Zhou, Shilong Chen, Michael G. Gilbert, Magnus Lidén, John McNeill, John K. Morton, Bengt Oxelman, Richard K. Rabeler, Mats Thulin, Nicholas J. Turland & Warren L. Wagner "Caryophyllaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 6 Page 1. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. John K. Morton "Silene". in Flora of North America Vol. 5. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.