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Moss
Campion
Silene acaulis (L.) Jacq.
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Family: Caryophyllaceae,
Pink
Genus: Silene
Description
General: tufted plant, 3-6 (rarely to 15) cm tall.
Growth habit:
perennial, from a woody root and a branched
stem base, forming thick mats up to 3 dm broad.
Stems:
trailing, lower parts covered with withered leaves.
 Leaves: mainly basal, numerous, partly overlapping,
linear to lance-shaped, stalkless, 4-10 mm long, 0.8-1.5
mm broad, hairless to hairy on basal edges or rough-
surfaced. Lower leaves stay withered for many years.
 Flowers: single, from nearly stalkless in the rosettes to
stalks up to 4 cm long. Calyx tubular- to bell-shaped, 3-10
mm long, 10-nerved, frequently pinkish. Corolla pink to
lavender, rarely white, the petals 8-12 mm long, with a
claw about twice as long as the obovate and notched
blade. Appendages usually 2, from as much as 1 mm long
to mere callosities, sometimes lacking. Styles 3.
Flowering time: June-August.
 Fruits: capsules, 3-chambered, cylindrical. Seeds light
brown, about 1 mm long, with minute bumps.
Distribution
Moist, but well drained areas in the alpine zone, often in
rock crevices, in s. and nw. parts of MT. Also from AK to
NM, AZ and NV.
 Edible plant: see below.
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(click on image for full size)
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var. exscapa:
(click on images for full size)
Moss campion is edible cooked. It is consumed as a vegetable in Iceland and in Arctic and Alpine regions. The raw root skins have been used for food by the Eskimos. This report refers to the sub-species S. acaulis ssp. exscapa. However, the plant contains saponins, so larger quantities should probably not be eaten.
Varieties:
var. exscapa (Allioni) DC.:
Calyx 4-6 (7) mm long, with broad, triangular lobes. Blade of the petals mostly obovate and notched. Flower stalks much shorter than the calyx.
var. subacaulescens (Williams) Fern. & St. John:
Calyx (6) 7-10 (11) mm long, with longer, narrower lobes. Blade of the petals oblong-oblanceolate, rounded to slightly notched. Flower stalks usually as long as the calyx.
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