Silene gallica L.
Family: Caryophyllaceae

Pertinent Synonyms & Notes (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other synonyms)

Silene anglica L.

Pertinent Common Names (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other common names)

French catchfly

Primary Disseminule Type

seed

Description (diagnostics are in brown)

Fruit an ovoid to globose capsule enclosed by the persistent urn-shaped calyx, 6–8 mm long, apically dehiscent with 6 recurved, narrowly triangular teeth, containing many seeds.

Seed kidney-shaped in outline, laterally compressed, lateral faces concave, 0.6–0.9 mm long x 0.6–0.7 mm wide x 0.3–0.7 mm thick (narrowest near hilum, broadest across the back). Surface dull (with a grayish sheen under magnification), reddish-brown to purplish-gray, covered with elongate, radially arranged cells with interdigitating walls (like a jigsaw puzzle), most cells papillate, 1(2–3) papilla per cell.

Hilum oval, in marginal notch, cells of lateral faces immediately surrounding the hilum narrowly elongate, not papillate.

Embryo peripheral, curved around the hard, semi-transparent perisperm.

Risk Assessment (codes in yellow or red indicate cause for concern; assessments are current as of mid-2011; click AUQP, NZBORIC, or NZBPI for access to the most recent versions of these databases and possible assessment changes)

AUQP, NZBORIC, NZBPI