Silene vulgaris
 
Bladder Campion

Flower Cut Open

Ruby Lake North of Hudson Bay
22-July-2020

The inflated calyx has twenty main veins and many cross veins creating a reticulate pattern.  The petals have a claw-limb configuration and the distal portion of the claw is dilated.  Note the ovary is dark brown to black.

Note that Budd's Flora recognized two related genera - Silene and Lychnis. 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.

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

styles usually 3; NOT [styles 5]

capsule usually divided into partitions at base; NOT [capsule1-celled to base]

perennial plants; NOT [annual or biennial plants]

plants with elongate, erect or decumbent stems; NOT [plants densely matted or cushion-forming]

calyx glabrous, or if pubescent, not glandular; NOT [calyx more or less glandular pubescent]

calyx 10-15 mm long, with 20 main veins, strongly reticulate;  NOT [calyx to 8  mm long, with 10 simple veins]

 

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

plants NOT with woody base

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

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

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

petals usually present; NOT [petals absent]

petals clawed; NOT [petals lacking claws]

styles 3-5; NOT [styles 2]

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

ovary stipitate

fruit dehiscent; NOT [fruit indehiscent]

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

 

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

herbs; NOT [shrubs or trees]

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

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

plants NOT with colored milky juice

plants with more than one normal leaf

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

leaves NOT glandular-dotted

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

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

sepals more than 2; NOT [sepals 2]

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

styles 2 or more; NOT [styles single]