Silene armeria L., Caryophyllaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 7 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: sweet-William campion, sweet-William catchfly

French: silène arméria

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plants annual, glabrous through-out, ± glaucous, sometimes glutinous in distal parts; taproot slender. Stems simple, branched in inflorescence, (10-) 20-40 (-70) cm. Leaves: basal withering before flowering, blade lanceolate-spatulate, 2-5 cm; cauline sessile to amplexicaulous, blade lanceolate to ovate or elliptic, 1-6 cm x 5-25 mm, apex acute. Inflorescences cymose, bracteate; cyme capitate or with flowers clustered at end of slender branches; bracts lanceolate-acicular, 2-10 mm. Pedicels 0.1-0.5 cm. Flowers: calyx usually purple tinged, 10-veined, elongate, clavate, lobed, constricted proximally into narrow tube, 13-17 x 2.5-4 mm, rather membranous; lobes ovate-triangular, ca. 1 mm, apex obtuse; petals pink (rarely white), unlobed, limb obovate, ca. 5 mm, base cuneate into claw 6-8 mm, auricles absent, appendages linear to lanceolate, 2-3 mm, apex acute; stamens slightly longer than petal claws; styles 3 (-4), exserted. Capsules oblong, 7-10 mm, opening by 6 (or 8) spreading teeth; carpophore 7-8 mm, glabrous. Seeds dark brown, reniform-rotund, less than 1 mm diameter"  (Flora of North America online).

Habitat/ecology:  In North America, "Waste places, disturbed ground; 0-1200 m"  (Flora of North America online). In New Zealand, "waste land, gardens, roadsides, stony ground" (Webb et al., 1988; 497).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Europe, Turkey; widely cultivated and naturalized (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim (2012) (p. 88) Voucher cited: Starr 110620-1 (BISH)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Canada Province of British Columbia	Canada (British Columbia)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
Canada Canada	Canada (country)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011) Ontario, Quebec
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 497)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Silene armeria is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Silene armeria as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Silene armeria may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 2011. Flora of North America North of Mexico (online edition).

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim. 2012. New plant records from Maui and Kaho‘olawe. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2011. Part II: Plants. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 113:87-90.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.