Silene acaulis L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Caryophyllaceae

• Scientific Name

  Silene acaulis L.

• Description

  Species Description - Pulvinate-cespitose, taprooted perennial, 3–6 cm, glabrous except the scabrid or ciliolate margins of the lvs; lvs crowded, imbricate, 4–15 × 0.8–1.5 mm, lanceolate, sessile; fls subsessile, or solitary on peduncles 2–2.5 cm; plants dioecious, with the staminate fls shorter than the pistillate, or the fls sometimes perfect; cal 3.5–7 mm, glabrous; pet purple or lavender, seldom white, 8–12 mm, cuneate-oblong or oblanceolate with little distinction between claw and blade, entire to deeply 2-lobed, the auricles none, the appendages minute or none; fr 3-locular, barely exsert; 2n=24. Circumboreal, s. in e. N. Amer. to alpine summits of N.H. Our plants may be distinguished from the European typical phase on minor characters as var. exscapa (All.) DC.

• Common Names

  moss campion