Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Silene virginica var. virginica
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Silene at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Silene virginica var. virginica
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 5 (2005)
Silene virginica
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 071-17-007:
Silene virginica FAMILY Caryophyllaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Silene virginica
COMMON NAME:
Fire-pink
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm230320_1718
March Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm090404_220
April Walker County GA
Pigeon Mountain
Basal leaves oblanceolate or spatulate, stem leaves sessile and narrow, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm130422_671
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_799
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Cream-colored stamens protrude from flower's center, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm160422_082
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm180427_1509
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm200409_3622
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200409_3623
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Leave bases ciliate, attenuate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm200409_3626
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200411_3725
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm200411_3727
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Flower stalks and calyx are covered with dense, sticky, glandular hairs, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm220427_7302
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
Keith Bradley kab_silene_virginica_1429
April Polk County NC
Somebody tell this plant that it's supposed to have 5 petals....
)
Tim Spira tpssvirginica2
April
)
JK Marlow jkm220517_7924
May Greenville County SC
Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk1383_a
June
Flowers up to 2" across, w deeply notched petals [vs. S. regia, not notched], per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
)
JK Marlow jkm230609_3973
June Jackson County NC
Whiteside Mountain
)
Jerry Bright jeb_mg_5451
July Haywood County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Silene virginica var. virginica
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Silene virginica var. virginica
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 5
Silene virginica
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 071-17-007:
Silene virginica
FAMILY
Caryophyllaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Silene virginica
1383
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: woodlands, rock outcrops, crevices in cliffs, roadbanks, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal & opposite (2-4 pairs of stem leaves)
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Red
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5 petals
10 stamens
Superior ovary
Usually bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p256
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p135
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p171
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p062
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p147
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p178
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p258
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p367
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p366
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p010
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p068
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p153
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p058
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p080
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p439
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p038
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p145
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".