Silene suksdorfii

Cascade alpine campion, suksdorf's catchfly, Suksdorf'S Catchfly

Family: Caryophyllaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

Cascade alpine campion is a rare (CNPS 2B.3) California native perennial found in the Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak areas of the Cascade Range on rocky alpine slopes at elevations of 2,400 to 3,100 meters. Flowering during summer, this plant produces white to purple flowers with petals 1 to 2 millimeters long, featuring distinctive purple-walled hair cells. Growing as a low-lying herb 3 to 10 centimeters tall with many caudex branches, it has decumbent to erect stems that are puberulent and glandular toward the top. Its basal leaves form dense tufts up to 4.5 centimeters long and 3.5 millimeters wide, with cauline leaves becoming progressively smaller and more linear upward. The fruit is nearly ovoid, carried on a short 2 to 3.5 millimeter puberulent stalk.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, alpine

Bloom period: Summer

Elevation: 2400-3100 m

Bioregions: CaRH (Mount Shasta, Lassen Peak)

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