Moss Campion

Silene acaulis

Summary 6

Silene acaulis, known as moss campion or cushion pink, is a small mountain-dwelling wildflower that is common all over the high arctic and tundra in the higher mountains of Eurasia and North America, (south to the Alps, Carpathians, southern Siberia, Pyrenees, British Isles, Faroe Islands, Rocky Mountains). It is an evergreen perennial.

Comments 7

Silene acaulis is a variable species, and most workers have recognized infraspecific taxa in North America: subsp. acaulis (subsp. exscapa and subsp. arctica), which is predominantly arctic; and subsp. subacaulescens, which extends down the Rocky Mountains from Alaska to Arizona and New Mexico. In subsp. acaulis, the leaves are flat and short and the flowers are subsessile and smaller in size. Subspecies subacaulescens is typically a larger, less-compact plant with longer, narrower leaves and larger, pedunculate flowers. However, in many populations, these two variants are poorly differentiated, and in others both occur together, connected by intermediates.  

Silene acaulis is widely distributed in arctic and alpine Europe.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Lars Falkdalen Lindahl, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/larsfl/5507460614/
  2. (c) Jerzy Opioła, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Silene_acaulis_a2.jpg/460px-Silene_acaulis_a2.jpg
  3. (c) Anthony Mendoza, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2664/3814208608_d39aaeea6b.jpg
  4. (c) Jörg Hempel, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2993003207_11e00d0a84_b.jpg
  5. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Silene_Acaulis.jpg/460px-Silene_Acaulis.jpg
  6. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silene_acaulis
  7. (c) Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/19794575

More Info