Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke

Bladder Campion

© DETenaglia

Family - Caryophyllaceae

Habit - Short-lived perennial forb from a woody rootstock.

Stem - Ascending to erect, to 80 cm, sometimes from a spreading base, few-branched toward the base, glabrous or rarely sparsely pubescent with short, downward-curled hairs toward the base, glaucous.

	Stem and node.
© SRTurner

Leaves - Opposite, simple. Basal leaves usually withered or absent at flowering, when present shorter than the largest stem leaves, short-petiolate or sessile. Stem leaves opposite, sessile. Leaf blades 2-6 cm long, oblong or broadly elliptic to narrowly lanceolate, tapered at the base (basal leaves) or somewhat clasping (most stem leaves) tapered to a sharply pointed tip, the surfaces glabrous, usually somewhat glaucous.

	Lower stem leaves.
© SRTurner

	Leaf adaxial.
© SRTurner

	Leaf abaxial.
© SRTurner

	Pressed leaves.
© DETenaglia

Inflorescences - Open terminal clusters or panicles, the stalks 0.5-2.0 cm long, glabrous, the bracts paired and resembling small leaves, with herbaceous, green margins.

	Inflorescence.
© SRTurner

Flowers - Flowers perfect. Sepals 11-15 mm long, the tube with many faint parallel and anastomosing nerves, narrowly bell-shaped at flowering, becoming inflated and papery at fruiting, ascending to somewhat spreading at the tip and not tightly enclosing the fruit, light green to pale green or purplish-tinged, not paler between the nerves, glabrous, umbilicate at the base, the 5 lobes broadly triangular, green or purplish-tinged, sharply pointed at the tip, the margins herbaceous and green at flowering, similar in texture to the rest of the calyx at fruiting. Petals 5, 14-19 mm long, the expanded portion 4-7 mm long, entire to 2-lobed at the tip, white, with a pair of small appendages on the upper surface at the base of the expanded portion. Stamens 10. Styles 3.

	Flower.
© SRTurner

	Calyx.
© SRTurner

	Rear of calyx, showing dimple surrounding stalk.
© SRTurner

	Sectioned flower, showing several stamens along with a central ovary.
© SRTurner

	Corollas.
© SRTurner

Fruits - Capsules 6-9 mm long, dehiscing apically by 6 teeth, with a stalklike basal portion 2-3 mm long. Seeds 1.0-1.5 mm wide, kidney-shaped, the surface finely tuberculate, black.

	Fruit enclosed in persistent calyx.
© SRTurner

	Immature fruit with calyx partially removed.
© SRTurner

Flowering - May - August.

Habitat - Forests, fields, railroads, roadsides, open, disturbed areas.

Origin - Native to Europe.

Lookalikes - Silene csereii.

Other info. - This weedy but striking species can be found scattered throughout Missouri but is infrequent. It occurs in most states of the continental U.S., most commonly in northern regions, and where present can be abundant. This species can be identified by its glabrous and glaucous stems, its opposite entire leaves, and its much inflated calyces. In appearance it is similar to S. csereii, but that species has smaller calyces which lack the conspicuous reticulate venation of the Silene vulgaris calyces.

The flowers of Silene vulgaris only last for one day. They typically open at night and wilt in strong sunlight. The petals of the flowers are deeply divided and give the illusion of being ten in number instead of the actual five.

Missouri plants are assignable to ssp. vulgaris. An older name is S. cucubalus. It has also been called S. latifolia, but that taxon is misapplied in this case and properly belongs to another species.

Photographs taken at Pictured Rocks National Seashore, MI., 7-22-02 (DETenaglia); also near Goodrich, Genesee County, MI, 7-3-2023, near Hodenpyl Dam scenic turnout, Wexford County, MI, 7-6-2023, and at Sleeping Bear Dunes, Leelanau County, MI, 7-6-2023 (SRTurner).