Silene gigantea subsp. rhodopea (Janka) Greuter

Taxonomy: Fam. Caryophyllaceae// Genus: Silene// Species: Silene gigantea L.// Subspecies: Silene gigantea subsp. rhodopea (Janka) Greuter.

Synonyms: Silene gigantea var. incana (Griseb.) Chowdhuri, Silene gigantea var. rhodopea (Janka.) D. Jord. et P. Pan., Silene rhodopea Janka.

Determined according to the botanical keys provided by Chater and Walters in Tutin et al., 1964 (Silene gigantea var. incana (Griseb.) Chowdhuri) and Micevski, 1993 (Silene gigantea var. rhodopea (Janka.) D. Jord. et P. Pan.). In The Euro+Med Plant Base (source: Marhold, 2011+) this taxon is accepted at the subspecies level – Silene gigantea subsp. rhodopea (Janka) Greuter.

Lifeform: Biennial. The first year of the life cycle is vegetative – basal rosette stage. Generative stage – flowering and fruiting occurs in the second year.

Distribution: Native from the Balkan Peninsula to Turkey according to the Euro+Med Plant Base (source: Marhold, 2011+); also native to Lebanon according to the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew).

Habitat: Open and dry habitats – dry grasslands/ hill pastured, rock cliffs, rocky terrains and river gorges.

Flowering period: Summer – autumn: JUL, AUG, SEP (-OCT, -NOV).

References:

Silene gigantea subsp. rhodopea (Janka) Greuter. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:983664-1 [Accessed 16.01.2023].

Silene gigantea subsp. rhodopea. Source: Marhold, K. (2011): Caryophyllaceae. – In: Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published on the Internet http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=104422&PTRefFk=7200000 [Accessed 24.11.2020].

Silene gigantea subsp. rhodopea. Source: Marhold, K. (2011+): Caryophyllaceae. – In: Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. https://www.europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/237e7686-5f16-402c-80e3-98cd1b33a322 [Accessed 16.01.2023].

Silene L. Chater, A. O. and Walters, S. M. in Tutin, T.G., Heywood, V.H., Burges, N.A., Moore, D.M., Valentine, D.H., Walters, S.M., & Webb, D.A. (1964). Flora Europaea. Volume 1. Lycopodiaceae to Platanaceae. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 158 -181.

Silene L. Micevski, K. (1993). The Flora of the Republic of Macedonia Vol. I, Book 2. Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, pp. 302 – 346.

Last update: 16.01.2023.