Silene menziesii Hook.

Silene menziesii is quite variable in the extent to which the inflorescence is developed and in its pubescence. This, coupled with the functionally dioecious nature of the species, has spawned a plethora of names, none of which appear to warrant recognition. The similar S. williamsii from Alaska and the Yukon Territory can be separated by its narrower lanceolate leaves that are broadest near the base and dull, usually brown, tuberculate seeds. Also, its stigmas are papillate only near the top. Silene seelyi is also very similar to S. menziesii but has dark red flowers and leaves that are smaller (to 2 cm in length) and broadest below the middle.

Plants perennial, with several-many decumbent, sometimes cespitose or matted shoots; taproot slender. Stems decumbent to erect, simple or branched, leafy throughout, 5-30(-70) cm, usually glandular-puberulent distally, proximal pubescence varying from short and sparse to multicellular, crinkled and deflexed, glandular or not. Leaves 2 per node, sessile or short-petiolate; blade usually oblanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, rarely obovate or elliptic, 2-6(-10) cm × 3-20(-35) mm, broadest at or above middle, narrowed to base, margins ciliate with short, somewhat scabrid hairs, apex acute to acuminate, puberulent to pubescent. Inflorescences cymose, or flowers axillary or solitary and terminal; cyme loose, compound, leafy. Pedicels slender, 0.5-3 cm, glandular-puberulent. Flowers functionally unisexual, usually bisexual; calyx obscurely 10-veined, campanulate, 5-8 mm, ca. 1/ 2 as wide, herbaceous, margins dentate, lobes lanceolate, 1.5-3 mm, apex recurved, subacute to acuminate, puberulent to pilose and glandular, veins without conspicuous, pale commissures; corolla white, clawed, 1-11/ 2 times calyx, claw shorter than calyx, limb oblong, 2-lobed, 1.5-3 mm, lobes oblong, apex obtuse, appendages 2, small, 0.1-0.4 mm; stamens in functionally staminate flowers equaling corolla, otherwise reduced and included in calyx; stigmas 3(-4), equaling corolla in functionally pistillate flowers, otherwise included in calyx, papillate along whole length. Capsules green, becoming black, ovoid-ellipsoid, slightly longer than calyx, opening by 3 erect teeth which often split into 6; carpophore ca. 1.5 mm. Seeds black, not winged, broadly reniform, 0.5-1 mm, glossy, obscurely reticulate. 2n = 24, 48.

Alta., B.C., Man., N.W.T., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.Mex., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Flowering throughout summer.

Common in open woodlands and forests, grasslands, gravelly places, river banks, mountains farther south; 200-3000m.

Anotites alsinoides Greene; A. bakeri Greene; A. costata Greene; A. debilis Greene; A. diffusa Greene; A. discurrens Greene; A. dorrii (Kellogg) Greene; A. elliptica Greene; A. halophila Greene; A. jonesii Greene; A. latifolia Greene; A. macilenta Greene; A. menziesii (Hooker) Greene; A. nodosa Greene; A. picta Greene; A. tenerrima Greene; A. tereticaulis Greene; A. villosula Greene; A. viscosa Greene; Silene dorrii Kellogg; S. menziesii subsp. dorrii (Kellogg) C. L. Hitchcock & Maguire; S. menziesii var. viscosa (Greene) C. L. Hitchcock & Maguire; S. obovata A. E. Porsild; S. stellarioides Nuttall ex Torrey & A. Gray

Silene menziesii, known with a variety of common names including Menzies’ campion and Menzies catchfly, is a common, low-growing perennial flowering plant in the pink family (Caryophyllaceae).It is native to western North America from Alaska through the western half of Canada to the southwestern United States.It can be found in open coniferous forest and woodlands, roadsides, grasslands, meadows and riverbanks, occurring especially in mountainous areas in the more southern part of its range.

Menzies’ pink has mat- to erect-type morphology, with many branches growing up to about 30cm long and lance-shaped leaves arranged in opposite pairs.The plant is dioecious with male and female plants producing flowers throughout the summer.Male and female flower types look the same externally; both plants produce loose inflorescences of white flowers with a tubular, greenish calyx enclosing petals deeply 2-lobed at the tip.Stamens are reduced in female plants and stigmas are reduced in the male.Coupled with its dioecious nature, Silene menziesii's variability in flower development and stem/leave texture has resulted in what some consider an unwarrented number of subspecies names.The branches, leaves and calyx of S. menziesii are usually glandular and hairy in texture and the hairs tend to catch small flies, a phenomenon inspiring the common name “catchfly”.

(Flora of North America; Giblin 2014; Jepson Manual 1993; USDA Plants Profile; Wikipedia 2013)

Silene menziesii is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names Menzies' campion and Menzies' catchfly. It is native to western North America from Alaska through the western half of Canada to the southwestern United States. It can be found in many types of habitat and it is quite common in much of its range. It is variable in morphology and there are a number of varied subtaxa. In general, it is a perennial herb growing from a caudex, appearing matlike, decumbent, or erect, with stems a few centimeters to over half a meter long. It is usually hairy in texture, with upper parts bearing sticky glandular hairs. The leaves are lance-shaped, oppositely arranged in pairs, and a few centimeters in length, upper leaves usually smaller than lower. Flowers may occur in a cyme at the top of the stem, or in leaf axils, or both. Each is encapsulated in a hairy, veined calyx of fused sepals. The petals are white with two lobes at the tips. The plant is dioecious with male and female plants producing different flowers. The male and female flower types look the same externally; the stamens are reduced in female plants and the stigmas are reduced in the male.

Silene menziesii là loài thực vật có hoa thuộc họ Cẩm chướng. Loài này được Hook. miêu tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1830.