E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Silene scouleri Hook. subsp. scouleri
Scouler's campion (simple campion)
Caryophyllaceae (Pink family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants
Once images have been obtained, photographs of this species will be displayed in this window.Click on the image to enter our photo gallery.
Currently no image is available for this taxon.
E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Silene scouleri subsp. scouleri
Click here to view our interactive map and legend
Details about map content are available here
Click on the map dots to view record details.

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.



General:
Perennial herb from a simple or branched stem-base; stems erect, 1 to several, simple, densely hairy throughout and glandular above, 15-80 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves slender-stalked, the blades oblanceolate, hairy, 6-20 cm long and up to 3 cm wide; stem leaves opposite, hairy, 1-12 pairs, reduced gradually and becoming unstalked above; stipules lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of numerous flowers, the inflorescence elongate, narrow, the lateral clusters mostly congested; petals 5, greenish-white to purplish, stalklike at the bases, the stalks of the petals 7-16 mm long, the blades 4-8 mm long, from 2-cleft to nearly equally 4-lobed, with prominent lateral teeth on each blade lobe; sepals 5, united, forming a tube 10-18 mm long, not inflating in fruit, 10-nerved.
Fruits:
Capsules elliptic to egg-shaped, hairy; seeds 0.9-1.5 mm long, greyish-brown, conspicuously pimply.
Notes:
Two subspecies occur in BC:

1. Leaves less than l5 mm wide, those of the stem usually 4-6 pairs; plants of SC BC.................... ssp. scouleri

1. Leaves, or at least some of them, more than 15 mm wide, those of the stem usually 3-11 pairs; plants of SW BC.................... ssp. grandis (Eastw.) C.L. Hitchc. & Maguire

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry coastal bluffs and gravelly or rocky slopes in the lowland and steppe zones; rare in SW BC, known only from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands (ssp. grandis) and infrequent in SC BC (ssp. scouleri); S to MT, NM, AZ and CA (ssp. scouleri) and S to CA (ssp. grandis).

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Silene grandis Eastw.
Silene pacifica Eastw.
Silene repens var. costata (F.N. Williams) B. Boivin
Silene scouleri subsp. grandis (Eastw.) C.L. Hitchc. & Maguire

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References