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

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

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Hans Roemer  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #23001)

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Distribution of Silene scouleri
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SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Silene scouleri ssp. scouleri

Species Information

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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.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References