Silene seed collection

Guidelines for collecting Silene seeds.

My research involves collections of Silene spp. in particular Silene Alba (also reffered to as S. latifolia, Melandrium album or white campion) and Silene vulgaris (bladder campion) from throughout their vast range. Descriptions of these plants from our local flora are provided below. I am looking for a few maternal families (each family consisting of 10-20 seeds from within a single capsule) from populations all over the earth.

Sending the Material:

Seeds from these species can be sent dry in envelopes or plastic tubes to my address in the United States using your standard postal service. Please send a postcard or e-mail message if you need to have envelopes sent to you. Send maternal families with infomation on where you collected them (i.e. the nearest town, state/province, country... or GPS!) to:

Douglas R. Taylor
Department of Biology, Gilmer Hall
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA, 22901, USA

Phone: (011) 434-982-5217
FAX: (011) 434-982-5627
E-Mail: drt3b@virginia.edu

Collecting:
Each envelope should contain the contents of a single seed capsule (a maternal family).

Amounts:
Any amount of seed is welcome. Ideally, a patch of plants would be represented by 5 capsules in the collection. I am trying to sample patches of plants that are broadly distributed. Entire regions (in some cases, entire countries) will go unsampled, so even a few bulk seeds in a single envelope is appreciated if collecting families is inconvenient.

Documentation:
I need the location specified, perhaps the approximate distance to a nearby town or landmark. I do not need descriptions about the habitat or local abundance. Those things are interesting, but optional.

THANK YOU:
I am very eager to help you in return for you kindness. Please let me know what your interests are (botanical or otherwise), and I will try to help during my travels.

Identifying Silene spp. notes from a U.S. Flora

In general the plants in the genus Silene are characterized as: Annual or short-loved perennials. Leaves opposite or whorled, entire, bases usually clasping. Flowers bracteate and pedicellate. Sepales united; petals usually with paired at the junction of limb and claw; stamens 10; styles usually 3, rarely 4. Capsules 3- or 1-celled; seeds reddish or brownish, papillose, basically reniform; carpophores or stipes 1-8mm long.

Silene vulgaris (=S. cucubalis (Wibel), bladder campion). Weakly ascending or decumbent, glaborous perennial, 5-10 dm tall, with a rootsock or caudex. Leaves elliptic, lanceolate, or oblanceloate, 2-10cm long, 0.3-2cm wide, cute, base clasping, stem leaves opposite. Cymes open; flowers few-many, bracteate, pedicellate. Calyx glaborous, reticulate veined, papery, inflated, tube 10-15mm long, lobes 2-4 mm long; petals white, cleft, 10-15mm long, appendages absent. Capsules subglobose, 6=7mm broad; seeds reddish, grayish, pappillose, ca. 1.5mm long; carpophores 2-3mm long. Waste places, widespread. Introduced weed in the US. Click here for a printable line drawing.
Silene alba (=S. latifolia, = Melandrium album, white campion). Middles stem leaves opposite, 5 styles. Corolla white, rarely pink. Dioecious, pubescent short-lived perennial, stems branched, spreading, seldom erect, 5-12 dm long. Leaves ovate, elliptic, or obovate, 3-15 cm long, 0.4-4cm wide, acute, entire, base usually attenuate, sessile. Inflorescence open, cymose; flowers pediculate. Calyz tube tubular at anthesis, ovoid to subglobose in fruit, 12-20mm long, 4-16mm broad, the staminate 10-nerved, pistillate 20-nerved, lobes attenuate, 3-6mm long; petal limbs white, the lobes 5-10mm long, appendaged, claws 15-18mm long; stamens 10 in staminate flowers; styles 5 or 4 in pistillate flowers. Capsules ovoid, 12-22mm long, 10-16mm broad, teeth 10; seeds brownish or grayish, tuberculate, 1-1.5mm broad. Roadsides fields and wasteplaces, scattered. Introduced weed in the US. Click here for a printable line drawing.

Department of Biology, PO Box 400328 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4328
Email: drt3b@virginia.edu  Phone:(434)982-5217