Silene hookeri

Hooker's catchfly

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Hooker's catchfly is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges and northern Coast Ranges in serpentine soils, dry rocky ground, talus, and pine or oak forest at elevations below 1,400 meters. Flowering from spring to early summer, this plant produces pale to deep pink flowers with white exposed upper petal claws, creating delicate blossoms 21 to 40 millimeters in diameter. Growing 5 to 20 centimeters tall with decumbent to erect stems that are appressed hairy below and glandular-puberulent above, it forms a plant with multiple caudex branches. Its oblanceolate leaves range from 2 to 8 centimeters long and 8 to 25 millimeters wide, becoming progressively reduced toward the stem's upper portions. The fruit is an oblong to ovoid capsule with a short 2 to 5 millimeter stalk, producing small black seeds about 2 millimeters in size.

Habitat: Serpentine soils, dry rocky ground, talus, or pine or oak forest

Bloom period: Spring-early summer

Elevation: < 1400 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR

California counties: Humboldt, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Trinity, Del Norte, Shasta, Lake

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.