''Silene uniflora'' is a species of flowering plant in the

carnation family 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, ...

known by the common name sea campion.

Description

''Silene uniflora'' is a

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

that forms a mat with stems growing outwards to as much as 30 cm. The stems can grow along the ground or grow upwards towards their ends. The leaves are linear, grey-green glabrous and glaucous in opposite and decussate pairs, the flowers white with five deeply notched petals, the 5 sepals fused and inflated to form a bladder. It is similar in appearance to the bladder campion ('' Silene vulgaris'') but with flowers generally solitary.

Taxonomy

In 1762

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

named ''Silene amoena'', a species that does not have the same description as ''Silene uniflora'', but is regarded as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''Silene uniflora'' subsp. ''uniflora''. The scientific description and naming of the species as a whole was by

Albrecht Wilhelm Roth Albrecht Wilhelm Roth (6 January 1757 – 16 October 1834) was a physician and botanist born in Dötlingen, Germany. He studied medicine at the Universities of University of Halle, Halle and University of Erlangen, Erlangen, where he received his ...

in 1794. It is classified in the genus ''

Silene ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

'' which is in the family Caryophyllaceae.

Subspecies

The sea campion has three subspecies listed as accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

: *''S. uniflora ''subsp.'' petraea''
Endemic to Sweden *''S. uniflora ''subsp.'' thorei''
Native to Southwest France (extinct in Spain) *''S. uniflora ''subsp.'' uniflora''

Atlantic Europe Atlantic Europe encompasses the western portion of Europe which borders the Atlantic Ocean. The term may refer to the idea of Atlantic Europe as a cultural unit and/or as a biogeographical region. It comprises the British Isles (Great Britain an ...

, the Azores, Madeira However, other sources such as the

World Flora Online World Flora Online is an Internet-based compendium of the world's plant species. Description The World Flora Online (WFO) is an open-access database, launched in October 2012 as a follow-up project to The Plant List, with the aim of publishi ...

(WFO) and World Plants (WP) list additional subspecies as accepted. *''Silene uniflora ''subsp.'' cratericola'' (WP) *''Silene uniflora ''subsp.'' glareosa'' (WFO) *''Silene uniflora ''subsp.'' prostrata'' (WFO) There are synonyms of sea campion or one of its three subspecies.

Names

''Silene uniflora'' is known by the common name ''sea campion''. The first use of this name dates to 1597.

Distribution

''Silene uniflora'' is a maritime species, almost confined to Iceland, the Atlantic and Baltic Sea coasts of western Europe up to the

Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...

in European Russia, and the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores. In Britain it also occurs rarely in the mountains. It has been introduced to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

References

Sources

;Books * * * ;Web sources * * * * * * * uniflora {{Caryophyllaceae-stub