Silene uralensis subsp. uralensis

Common names: Silène de l’Oural
Illustrated
Synonyms: Gastrolychnis apetala subsp. arctica Hultén Lychnis apetala subsp. arctica (Farr) Maguire Lychnis apetala var. arctica (Fries) Macoun & Holm Lychnis apetala subsp. attenuata (Fries) Hultén Lychnis apetala var. attenuata (Farr) C. L. Hitchcock Lychnis apetala var. glabra Regel Lychnis apetala var. nutans B. Boivin Lychnis attenuata (Farr) Bocquet Lychnis nesophila (Farr) Rydberg Lychnis soczavianum Melandrium apetalum subsp. arcticum (Farr) H. Hara Melandrium apetalum subsp. attenuatum (Fries) Bocquet Melandrium apetalum var. glabrum (Regel) Hultén Silene attenuata Silene uralensis subsp. arctica (Farr) McNeill Silene uralensis subsp. attenuata (Fries) Hultén Silene uralensis var. mollis (Chamisso & Schlechtendal) Bocquet Silene wahlbergella subsp. arctica (Farr) Hultén Silene wahlbergella subsp. attenuata Wahlbergella attenuata
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 210. Mentioned on page 189, 211.

Plants cespitose; taproot stout. Stems simple (very rarely 1-branched), 5–30 cm, pubescent, often densely so distally, with long purple-septate glandular and eglandular hairs, rarely subglabrous. Leaves: basal numerous, blade 1–5 cm × 2–5 mm (including petiole), glabrous or softly pubescent, eglandular; cauline in 1–3 pairs, blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 0.5–2.5 cm × 2–4 mm. Inflorescences simple, slender, with single terminal flower, occasionally branched with 2 (rarely 3) flowers, densely glandular-pubescent, slightly viscid. Pedicels slender. Flowers: nodding, becoming erect in fruit; calyx veined, ovate-elliptic, 11–17 × 6–10 mm, veins purple with long purple-septate hairs, lobes ovate to triangular, ca. 2.5 mm, margins purple tinged, broad, membranous; corolla dingy pink to purple, 1–11/4 times length of calyx, claw shorter than calyx, limb ovate, emarginate to 2-lobed, ca. 1–3 mm, appendages 2, lacerate, ca. 0.3 mm. Capsules equaling to slightly longer than calyx; carpophore 1–2 mm. Seeds brown, ± round to angular, 1.5–2(–2.5) mm diam.; wing flat, ca. as broad as body. 2n = 24.


Phenology: Flowering summer.
Habitat: Arctic and alpine tundra, gravelly and grassy places
Elevation: 0-4000 m

Distribution

V5 429-distribution-map.gif

Greenland, Alta., B.C., Man., Nfld. and Labr. (Labr.), N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Yukon, Alaska, Colo., Mont., Utah, Wyo., arctic Asia.

Discussion

Subspecies uralensis is an arctic-alpine taxon. The populations that extend through the Rocky Mountains from Alaska to Utah are often referred to subsp. attenuata. They tend to have a less-inflated calyx, slightly longer purple petals, flowers that are angled at less than 45° rather than nodding, and less well-developed cauline leaves. These differences are minor, however, and populations of subsp. attenuata often contain plants referable to subsp. uralensis, while plants resembling subsp. attenuata are scattered across the range of subsp. uralensis. Some collections from the southern Rocky Mountains (Colorado and Utah) appear to intergrade with S. kingii in having a narrow wing to the seeds. Hybrids with S. involucrata occasionally occur in nature, and A. Nygren (1951) reported a synthesized hybrid that was triploid (2n = 36) and sterile (see discussion under 57. S. sorensenis).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
John K. Morton +
(Ruprecht) Bocquet +
Gastrolychnis uralensis +
Silène de l’Oural +
Greenland +, Alta. +, B.C. +, Man. +, Nfld. and Labr. (Labr.) +, N.W.T. +, Nunavut +, Ont. +, Que. +, Yukon +, Alaska +, Colo. +, Mont. +, Utah +, Wyo. +  and arctic Asia. +
0-4000 m +
Arctic and alpine tundra, gravelly and grassy places +
Flowering summer. +
Illustrated +
Gastrolychnis apetala subsp. arctica +, Lychnis apetala subsp. arctica +, Lychnis apetala var. arctica +, Lychnis apetala subsp. attenuata +, Lychnis apetala var. attenuata +, Lychnis apetala var. glabra +, Lychnis apetala var. nutans +, Lychnis attenuata +, Lychnis nesophila +, Lychnis soczavianum +, Melandrium apetalum subsp. arcticum +, Melandrium apetalum subsp. attenuatum +, Melandrium apetalum var. glabrum +, Silene attenuata +, Silene uralensis subsp. arctica +, Silene uralensis subsp. attenuata +, Silene uralensis var. mollis +, Silene wahlbergella subsp. arctica +, Silene wahlbergella subsp. attenuata +  and Wahlbergella attenuata +
Silene uralensis subsp. uralensis +
Silene uralensis +
subspecies +