Silene hookeri
Encyclopedia
Silene hookeri is a species of flowering plant in the pink family
known by the common names Hooker's silene, Hooker's Indian pink, and Hooker's glandular campion. It is native to the coastal and inland mountains of Oregon
and northwestern California
, where it grows in woodlands and forests in sandy and rocky soils, sometimes on serpentine
, up to elevation
s around 1400 meters. It is a squat perennial herb producing a decumbent or erect stem up to 20 centimeters long from a woody, branching caudex
. It is covered in soft gray curly or crinkly hairs. The leaves are lance-shaped and up to 9 centimeters long near the base of the plant; smaller, narrower leaves occur farther up the stems. Each flower has a tubular calyx of fused sepal
s lined with ten veins and covered in whitish hairs. It is open at the tip, revealing five white, pink or purple petals. The petal tips are each divided into usually four lobes, which may be wide and rounded or narrow and fringelike. Small, erect appendages occur at the petal bases.
Caryophyllaceae
The Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and Polygonaceae...
known by the common names Hooker's silene, Hooker's Indian pink, and Hooker's glandular campion. It is native to the coastal and inland mountains of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and northwestern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it grows in woodlands and forests in sandy and rocky soils, sometimes on serpentine
Serpentine soil
A serpentine soil is derived from ultramafic rocks, in particular serpentinite, a rock formed by the hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle....
, up to elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
s around 1400 meters. It is a squat perennial herb producing a decumbent or erect stem up to 20 centimeters long from a woody, branching caudex
Caudex
A caudex is a form of stem morphology appearing as a thickened, short, perennial stem that is either underground or near ground level . It may be swollen for the purpose of water storage, especially in xerophytes...
. It is covered in soft gray curly or crinkly hairs. The leaves are lance-shaped and up to 9 centimeters long near the base of the plant; smaller, narrower leaves occur farther up the stems. Each flower has a tubular calyx of fused sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s lined with ten veins and covered in whitish hairs. It is open at the tip, revealing five white, pink or purple petals. The petal tips are each divided into usually four lobes, which may be wide and rounded or narrow and fringelike. Small, erect appendages occur at the petal bases.