Silene acaulis

Plant Characteristics

Habit		herbaceous
Height:	⇕	2 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 2.
Width:	⇔	4 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 4.
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Bloom:	❀	early summer, mid summer, late summer

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun
Features:	✓	flowers
USDA Zones:		2 to 8
Flower features:	❀	red, blue, purple, pink

Scientific Names

Caryophyllaceae >

Silene >

acaulis >

Silene acaulis, moss campion, is a small mountain-dwelling wildflower that is common all over the high arctic and the higher mountains of Eurasia and North America, (south to the Alps, Carpathians, southern Siberia, Pyrenees, British Isles, Faroe Islands, Rocky Mountains, ).

It is densely tufted, forming domed cushions composed of long shoots with four or five small green leaves at their apex and many remnants of old leaves below. The cushion has a solid, very long taproot. The leaves are narrow with short stiff hairs on the margin. Numerous pink (rarely white) flowers, seldom more than one on each shoot; the petals are distinctly longer than the calyx. S. acaulis displays "compass flowering", developing flowers on the southfacing part of the cushion first, later on the north side. It has a long flowering season. It grows mainly in dry, gravelly localities, but also in damper places. With the cushions it produces its own, warmer climate with high temperatures inside, when the sun shines.

Read about Silene acaulis in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Silene acaulis, Linn. Cushion Pink. Moss Campion. Moss-like tufted perennial, about 2 in. high, glabrous: sts. almost lacking: lvs. clustered at the end of the much-branched rootstock, green, short, linear-subulate: peduncles 1-fld.: fls. reddish purple, 1/2 in. across; calyx campanulate, 10-nerved, glabrous; petals slightly notched, obovate, with a small scale at the base: caps. long-cylindrical or oval. May-Aug. Eu.—According to Niven, this species is readily increased by division or by seeds, which it produces sparingly. The fls. have a tendency to become dioecious. Var. alba, Hort., forms dense cushions and has snow-white fls. somewhat smaller than the type. Var. aurea, Hort., has golden foliage and bright rose fls. Var. exscapa, Koch (S. exscapa, All.), has dense bright green cushions and paler pink (according to the trade sometimes white) fls. Var. grandiflora, Hort., forms moss-like tufts with crimson fls. June, July. Var. plena, Hort. (S. acaulis var. flore-pleno, Hort.), has dense cushions of light green foliage and double bright rose fls. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Gallery

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External links

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