11. Silene regia Sims (royal catchfly)

Map 1490, Pl. 346 g–i

Plants perennial, with a stout, fleshy taproot. Stems (35–)50–120 cm long, erect, unbranched below the inflorescence, moderately roughened with short, stiff, downward-angled hairs toward the base and with stalked glands toward the tip, rarely glabrous or nearly so. Basal leaves usually absent at flowering, when present shorter than the largest stem leaves, sessile or with a short, poorly differentiated petiole. Stem leaves opposite, in (6–)10–20 pairs, sessile. Leaf blades 4–14 cm long, ovate to lanceolate, tapered to rounded or somewhat cordate at the base, angled or tapered to a bluntly or sharply pointed tip, the surfaces moderately to densely roughened-hairy or rarely glabrous. Flowers perfect, in open terminal clusters or panicles, the stalks 5–15 mm long, with stalked glands, the bracts paired and resembling small leaves, with herbaceous, green margins. Sepals 17–22 mm long, the tube with 10 parallel, nonanastomosing nerves, tubular to narrowly conical at flowering, narrowed toward the base, becoming somewhat inflated and ellipsoid at fruiting, green, pale between the nerves, with stalked glands, the lobes triangular, green, bluntly pointed at the tip, the margins thin and white or reddish-tinged. Petals 5, 30–40 mm long, the expanded portion 10–16 mm long, entire or with a few fine teeth toward the tip, rarely notched at the tip (but lacking additional lobes), bright red, with a pair of small appendages on the upper surface at the base of the expanded portion. Styles 3(–5). Fruits 14–16 mm long, opening by 6(8 or 10) teeth, with a stalklike basal portion 3–5 mm long. Seeds 1.5–2.0 mm wide, kidney-shaped, the surface finely tuberculate, dark reddish brown. 2n=48. May–October.

Scattered in the Ozark and Ozark Border Divisions and uncommon along the southern margin of the Unglaciated Plains (Ohio to Florida west to Kansas and Oklahoma). Upland prairies, glades, tops of bluffs, savannas, and rocky openings of mesic to dry upland forests; also fencerows, railroads, and roadsides.

Silene regia is a spectacular plant of the tallgrass prairie, with its many flowers and bright red corollas crowning stems sometimes over 1 m tall. Populations have been lost or are threatened by habitat destruction and degradation throughout its range. Missouri has by far the majority of extant populations, but many of these are small and along roadsides or in other degraded habitats. King (1981) mapped several additional counties within the presently circumscribed Missouri range for this species, but voucher specimens for these were not relocated during the present study. Silene regia was advocated for use in gardens by Steyermark (1963). It is relatively easily propagated from seed and also is available for sale at most native plant nurseries in the state.