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Scouler's catchfly (Silene scouleri ssp. grandis): COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 3

Species Information

Name and classification

Scientific Name:
Silene scouleri Hook. ssp. grandis (Eastw.), C.L. Hitch. & Maguire
Synonym:
  • from Douglas and MacKinnon 1998, Hitchcock et al. 1964
    • S. grandis Eastw.
    • S. pacifica Eastw.
    • S. grandis var. pacifica Jeps.
    • S. scouleri var. pacifica (Eastw.) C.L. Hitchcock
    • S. scouleri Hook. ssp. grandis (Eastw.) C.L. Hitchcock & Maguire
    • S. scouleri Hook. ssp. scouleri var. scouleri
    • S. repens Patrin ex. Pers. var. costata (Williams) Boivin
Common name:
coastal Scouler’s catchfly
Family:
Caryophyllaceae (pink family)
Major plant group:
dicot flowering plant

Silene scouleri is the most complex element within its genus and its taxonomy is under active review. Regardless of which name is attached to the Pacific coast populations, they belong to a different subspecies from other populations in Canada (John Morton, Professor of Botany, University of Waterloo, March 13, 2002, pers. comm.).

Silene scouleri ssp. scouleri is also present in Canada but occurs in southcentral British Columbia. It is not listed as rare in the province (Douglas et al. 1998).

Description

Silene scouleri ssp. grandis is a greenish-white to purplish perennial herb from a simple or branched stem-base, 15-80 centimetres (cm) tall (Figure 1). The basal leaves are hairy, 6-20 cm long to 1.5 cm wide. The stems leaves are opposite, hairy, in 3-11 pairs and gradually become stalkless above. Flowers are arranged in an elongated narrow inflorescence. Petals are 5, greenish-white to purplish, stalklike at the base and 7-16 millimetres (mm) long. Petals vary from being divided into two, to being almost 4-parted. There are prominent teeth on each lobe of the petal. The sepals form a tube 10-18 mm long and have 10-veins. The fruits are elliptical capsules that contain 0.9-1.5 mm long, greyish-brown seed with pimples on the surface (Douglas and MacKinnon 1998).

Figure 1. Illustration of Silene scouleri ssp. grandis. Enlarged illustration of flower by Jane Lee Ling from Douglas et al. 2002, with permission; illustrations of habit and of petal details by J.R. Janish from Hitchcock and Cronquist 1973, with permission.

Figure 1. Illustration of Silene scouleri ssp. grandis. Enlarged illustration of flower by Jane Lee Ling from Douglas et al. 2002, with permission; illustrations of habit and of petal details by J.R. Janish from Hitchcock and Cronquist 1973, with permission.

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