Silene scouleri

From Puget Prairie Plants
  • Scientific Name: Silene scouleri subsp. scouleri
  • Family: Caryophyllaceae
  • Common Names: Scouler's campion, Scouler's catchfly, wild pink, silene
  • Codon: SILSCO

Photo by Rod Gilbert

Taxonomy

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Subkingdom: Viridiplantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Spermatophytina
Class: Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Caryophyllanae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Silene L.
Species: Silene scouleri Hook.
Subspecies: S. scouleri ssp. scouleri Hook.

[1]

Description

Perennial herb growing from a taproot and branched caudex[2] with many greenish-white to purplish flowers, up to 80 cm tall.[3] Stems several,[3] erect, puberulent.[2] Basal leaves petiolate, oblanceolate, to 15 cm long;[3] cauline leaves opposite, in 12 pairs, often sessile, lanceolate or similar.[2] Inflorescences cymose,[4] elongate and narrow;[3] calyx tubular, 5-lobed, pubescent, pale with prominent darker venation;[4] petals 5, clawed, limbs 2 to 4-lobed;[3] stamens 10, epipetalous;[4] styles 3, ovary stalked, becoming 1-celled capsule.[3]

Bloom Period

June - August [3]

Distribution

S. scouleri subsp. scouleri grows in west Cascades, B.C. to California, transitional to S. scouleri subsp. scouleri in the east Cascades in Washington and Oregon.[4]

Habitat

Prairies and open forest, low to moderate elevations [3]

Uses

First Nations

Nɨwɨ medicine, a warm infusion of pounded plant used as an emetic for stomach pain.[5]

Propagation

Store seeds in refrigerator. Time to germination: 7 days. High percentage germination recorded. [6]

Native Plant Network Propagation Protocol

Photo Gallery

References

  1. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved from https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=20117#null
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Flora of North America. Retrieved from http://dev.floranorthamerica.org/Silene_scouleri
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 WTU Herbarium, Burke Museum, & University of Washington. Retrieved from http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?Genus=Silene&Species=scouleri
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Hitchcock, C. L., Cronquist, A., Giblin, D., & Legler, B. et al. (2018). Flora of the Pacific Northwest: an illustrated manual. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
  5. Native American Ethnobotany Database. Retrieved from http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=silene+scouleri
  6. Butler, Jennifer; Frieswyk, Christin. 2001. Propagation protocol for production of Silene scouleri seeds; USDI NPS - Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Colorado. In: Native Plant Network. URL: http://www.nativeplantnetwork.org (accessed 14 May 2012). Moscow (ID): University of Idaho, College of Natural Resources, Forest Research Nursery.