Drummond’s campion

(Silene drummondii ssp. drummondii)

Conservation Status

 

No image available

 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

S3 - Vulnerable

     
  Minnesota

Special Concern

     
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Drummond’s campion is a 8 to 20 tall, erect perennial, that rises on one or several stems from a branched, fleshy caudex atop a stout taproot. When young the plant forms a basal rosette of leaves. Later it sends up flowering stems.

The stems are lanky and covered with fine, downward-pointing hairs top to bottom. Near the top they are sticky due to stalked glands.

Leaves are mostly basal. The basal leaves are 1 to 4 long including the leaf stalk, from less than ¼ to ½ wide, lance-shaped to elliptic or inversely lance-shaped with the attachment at the narrow end. They are covered with short, stiff hairs on the upper and lower surfaces. They are borne on leaf stalks. The margins are untoothed.

There are 2 to 5 pairs of opposite leaves in the stem. Stem leaves are narrower, opposite, and usually linear. They are 1 to 3½ long and ¼ or less wide. They are covered with short, stiff hairs on the upper and lower surfaces. The margins are untoothed.

The inflorescence is loose and narrow at the top of the stem, with 1 to 20, but usually 1 to 10, flowers.

The sepals are fused at the base into a tube (calyx) terminating in 5 short, erect lobes. The calyx is narrowly ellipse-shaped, not inflated, 2 to 3 times as long as broad, to long when in flower, ½ to ¾ long and to wide when in fruit. It has 10 green major veins that are raised on the surface (prominent), forming ridges. They are covered with sticky, glandular hairs.

The flowers have both male and female reproductive organs (perfect). The 5 petals are off-white to dusky pink, with a stalk-like narrow base (claw). They are as long as the calyx, and do not protrude from it, or are up to 1½ times as long as the calyx, and do protrude from it.

There are 10 stamens that do not project beyond the calyx. There are 5, sometimes 4, styles that also do not project beyond the calyx.

The fruit is a 3-chambered capsule the same size as the calyx the same size or, rarely, 1½ times as long as the calyx, with 5, sometimes 4, spreading teeth at the top.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

8 to 20

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

Off-white to dusky pink

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Dry. Prairies, hillsides.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

June

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 28, 29, 30.

Most of the habitats in Minnesota suitable for Drummond’s campion are on private land. There are five known populations on public property, all of which are on Wildlife Management Areas. The map at left shows current known populations on public property in dark green and all other records and sightings in light green.

 
  2/22/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Rare in Minnesota

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Subclass Caryophyllidae  
  Superorder Caryophyllanae  
 

Order

Caryophyllales (pinks, cactuses, and allies)  
 

Family

Caryophyllaceae (pink)  
  Subfamily Caryophylloideae  
  Tribe Sileneae  
 

Genus

Silene (catchflies)  
  Subgenus Behenantha  
  Section Physolychnis  
  Species Silene drummondii (Drummond’s campion)  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

There are two or three subspecies of Drummond’s campion are recognized in North America, depending on the source. Only ssp. drummondii occurs in Minnesota.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Gastrolychnis drummondii

Lychnis drummondii

Lychnis pudica

Melandrium drummondii

Silene drummondii var. drummondii

Silene drummondii var. kruckebergii

Wahlbergella drummondii

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Drummond catchfly

Drummond’s campion

Drummond’s catchfly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Bract

Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.

 

Calyx

The flower cup. May be the group of outer floral leaves (sepals) collectively, or a tube with lobes.

 

Caudex

A short, thickened, woody, persistent enlargement of the stem, at or below ground level, used for water storage.

 

Claw

A stalk-like narrowed base of some petals and sepals.

 

Glandular hairs

Hairs spread over aerial vegetation that secrete essential oils. The oils act to protect against herbivores and pathogens or, when on a flower part, attract pollinators. The hairs have a sticky or oily feel.

 

Linear

Long, straight, and narrow, with more or less parallel sides, like a blade of grass.

 
 
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