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This genus is accepted, and its native range is Subarctic & Temp. to Tropical Mountains.

[FTEA]

Caryophyllaceae, W. B. Turrill. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1956

Morphology General Habit
Herbs or subshrubs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves exstipulate, not or only very slightly connate at the base
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences cymose, panicled, spicate, aggregated-capitulate or reduced even to a solitary flower; no calycine bracts
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx tubular or dilated, 5 teeth, 10 main veins
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5, with a long narrow claw and an entire or usually a bilobed limb
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 5 + 5 in male or hermaphrodite flowers or abnormally reduced in number
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary 3- to 5-locular at least in the lower part though usually unilocular in the upper part; styles 2 to 5 but generally 3, filiform
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules dehiscing generally by 3 or 6 teeth or valves.

[FSOM]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Herbs, rarely subshrubs; indumentum glandular or not
Morphology Leaves
Leaves sessile or attenuate into petiole; stipules absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences various, in the Flora area essentialy a raceme-like monochasial cyme, rarely branched; bracts leaf-like, progressively reduced, pedicels sometimes with a pair of very reduced bracts
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers 5-merous, often opening at night and scented
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals joined into shortly 5-toothed calyx-tube, thin with 10 (or more outside Flora area) prominent veins, often inflated in fruit
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals usually present, with a long claw sharply delineated from the usually 2-fid to emarginate limb by prominent coronal scales
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 10
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary on a short stalk - “carpophore”, usually partially 3(–5)-locular, styles 3(–5), free, ovules usually numerous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit a capsule, usually ± 1-celled at least at tip, usually opening by twice as many teeth as there are styles
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds mostly reniform to discoid, often dorsally grooved and with 2 marginal wings, sometimes spiny.
Distribution
A subcosmopolitan genus of about 890 species, most numerous in the Mediterranean region and W Asia.

[FZ]

Caryophyllaceae, H. Wild. Flora Zambesiaca 1:2. 1961

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds numerous, reniform or subspherical, sometimes winged.
Morphology General Habit
Herbs or shrublets.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves opposite, sometimes slightly connate at the base, exstipulate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers in cymose, paniculate, spicate or aggregate-capitulate inflorescences, or rarely single, unisexual or bisexual.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx tubular or dilated, 5-toothed, with 10 principal veins.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5, with a long narrow claw and a dilated, bifid or rarely simple or laciniate lamina, often with scales at the base of the limb.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 5 + 5 in male or bisexual flowers or abnormally reduced.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary 3–5-locular below but usually 1-locular in the upper part or 1-locular throughout, multiovulate; styles (2) 3 (5), filiform.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule many-seeded, opening from the apex by 3 or 6 teeth or valves.

[FTEA]

Caryophyllaceae, W. B. Turrill. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1956

Morphology General Habit
Annual or perennial herbs, sometimes suffruticose
Morphology Leaves
Leaves exstipulate, not or only slightly connate at the base
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences cymose, paniculate, secund, or reduced to a single flower; no calycine bracts
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx tubular or dilated, 5 teeth, 8–10 main veins
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals 5, with a long narrow claw and a bilobed limb
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers hermaphrodite or dioeciously unisexual
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
Stamens 5 + 5 in male or hermaphrodite flowers
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Ovary (and capsule) unilocular; styles 3 or 5, free
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules dehiscing by 6 or 10 teeth or valves.

Native to:

Afghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Alberta, Aleutian Is., Algeria, Altay, Amur, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Arkansas, Assam, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, British Columbia, Bulgaria, Buryatiya, California, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Central European Rus, Chad, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Colorado, Connecticut, Corse, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Denmark, District of Columbia, Djibouti, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, East Himalaya, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Florida, France, Free State, Føroyar, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Greenland, Gulf States, Hainan, Hawaii, Hungary, Iceland, Idaho, Illinois, India, Indiana, Inner Mongolia, Iowa, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Irkutsk, Italy, Japan, Kamchatka, Kansas, Kazakhstan, Kentucky, Kenya, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kriti, Krym, Kuril Is., Kuwait, KwaZulu-Natal, Labrador, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Libya, Louisiana, Madeira, Magadan, Maine, Malawi, Manchuria, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mauritania, Mexican Pacific Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Mongolia, Montana, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nansei-shoto, Nebraska, Nepal, Netherlands, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, North Caucasus, North Dakota, North European Russi, Northern Provinces, Northwest European R, Northwest Territorie, Norway, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oman, Ontario, Oregon, Pakistan, Palestine, Pennsylvania, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Primorye, Qinghai, Québec, Rhode I., Romania, Rwanda, Sakhalin, Sardegna, Saskatchewan, Saudi Arabia, Selvagens, Sicilia, Sinai, Socotra, Somalia, South Carolina, South Dakota, South European Russi, Spain, Sudan, Svalbard, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uganda, Ukraine, Utah, Uzbekistan, Vermont, Vietnam, Virginia, Washington, West Himalaya, West Siberia, West Virginia, Western Sahara, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Xinjiang, Yakutskiya, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Yukon, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Ascension, Bermuda, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Colombia, El Salvador, Falkland Is., Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mauritius, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New South Wales, Norfolk Is., Paraguay, Prince Edward I., Réunion, St.Helena, Uruguay, Venezuela

Silene L. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
Jan 1, 1847 Ecklon. [s.n.] K000313122
Rico, L. [1956], Morocco K000564915

First published in Sp. Pl.: 416 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Manning, J.C. & Goldblatt, P. (2012). A taxonomic revision of the southern African native and naturalized species of Silene L. (Caryophyllaceae) Bothalia, A Journal of Botanical Research 42: 147-186.
  • Rechinger, K.H., Melzheimer, V., Möschl, W. & Schiman-Czeika, H. (1988). Flora Iranica 163: 1-528. Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • —F.T.A. 1: 138.

Flora Zambesiaca

  • Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 193 (1754).
  • Sp. Pl. 1: 416 (1753)

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, Vol 1, (1993) Author: by M. G. Gilbert [updated by M. Thulin 2008]

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • L., Gen. Pl., ed. 5, 193 (1754)
  • Sp. Pl. 416 (1753)

Art and Illustrations in Digifolia
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew

Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Flora of Somalia
Flora of Somalia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0