''Silene parishii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactace ...

known by the common name Parish's catchfly. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, where it is known from several of the local mountain ranges, including the

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cens ...

, San Gabriel, and

San Jacinto Mountains The San Jacinto Mountains (''Avii Hanupach''Munro, P., et al. ''A Mojave Dictionary''. Los Angeles: UCLA. 1992. in Mojave) are a mountain range in Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. The mou ...

. It grows in rocky, forested habitat, sometimes in the

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical weather ( climate) for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions ...

s of the higher peaks. It is a perennial herb growing from a woody, branching

caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a Plant stem, stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, " ...

and

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

, sending up several decumbent or erect stems 10 to 40 centimetres tall. The oppositely arranged leaves line the stems, the largest ones located at the middle of each stem. Leaves are lance-shaped to nearly oval and up to 6 centimetres long. They are thick and leathery, and sometimes glandular and sticky. Each flower is encapsulated in a tubular calyx of fused

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s which may be nearly 3 centimetres long. It is greenish with ten veins and a coating of glandular hairs. The five petals are yellowish in colour and each has about six long, fringelike lobes at the tip.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileFlora of North AmericaPhoto gallery
parishii Endemic flora of California Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Caryophyllaceae-stub