Silene drummondii
 
Drummond's Cockle

Fruit Side

Hudson Bay Regional Park
27-July-2020

Note the 10-veined calyx tube tightly encloses the capsule which has already opened by five spreading teeth.  In the population sampled here, the petals are included within the calyx tube and not visible from the outside.  In other populations, the petals can be slightly exserted.

Note that Budd's Flora recognized two related genera - Silene and Lychnis - and it called this species Lychnis drummondii.  Today Lychnis is subsumed in a larger Silene. Therefore the answers separating Silene from Lychnis have been removed from the answers leading to the genus and added to the answers leading to the species.

bullet

Drummondii: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this species.
bullet

flowers usually 3 or more; NOT [flowers usually solitary, rarely 2 or 3]

bullet

flowers erect on stiffly ascending pedicels; NOT [flowers nodding]

bullet

flowers perfect; NOT [flowers of different sexes on separate plants]

bullet

calyx not inflated, tightly enclosing the capsule; NOT [calyx somewhat inflated]

bullet

calyx not or little enlarging; NOT [calyx enlarging in fruit]

bullet

petals included or barely exserted; NOT [petals conspicuously exserted]

bullet

styles 5; NOT [styles usually 3]

bullet

capsule 1-celled to base; NOT [capsule usually divided into partitions at base]

 

bullet

Silene: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus. 
bullet

plants NOT with woody base

bullet

calyx without bracts; NOT [calyx with 1-3 pairs of bracts below]

bullet

sepals united part way, forming a tube; NOT [sepals entirely separate]

bullet

lobes of sepals NOT over 20 mm long; NOT [sepals with long, leaf-like lobes, over 20 mm long]

bullet

petals usually present; NOT [petals absent]

bullet

petals clawed; NOT [petals lacking claws]

bullet

styles 3-5; NOT [styles2]

bullet

styles alternate with the petals; NOT [styles opposite the petals]

bullet

ovary stipitate

bullet

fruit dehiscent; NOT [fruit indehiscent]

bullet

fruit several-seeded; NOT [fruit 1-seeded]

 

bullet

Caryophyllaceae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora  leading to this family. 
bullet

herbs; NOT [shrubs or trees]

bullet

plants terrestrial or semiaquatic; NOT [plants aquatic, leaves submerged or floating]

bullet

terrestrial plants; NOT [mud plants with small axillary flowers]

bullet

plants NOT with colored milky juice

bullet

plants with more than one normal leaf

bullet

leaves opposite, whorled, or basal; NOT [some or all leaves alternate]

bullet

leaves NOT glandular-dotted

bullet

plants without large petal-like bracts; NOT [plants with an involucre of 4 petal-like bracts]

bullet

flowers with two floral rings, and with each petal distinct from the others

bullet

sepals more than 2; NOT [sepals 2]

bullet

stamens NOT united at base; NOT [stamens united at base into 3-5 bundles]

bullet

styles 2 or more; NOT [styles single]