Hello folks: This is the last picture I have of the Arctic North Slope. It was taken 6 miles inland from the Arctic Coast in the front yard of a 3-generation homestead on an island in the Colville River, North Slope, Alaska. The picture was taken on July 29th. The bright green, tall leaves are those of the plant. I suspect I can not find this one because they are not actually flowers, but the seed pod of a flower. I am not experienced enough to find these in my books without many months of reading or extreme good luck. Dickie Byrd
Lila, thank you very much for you help. I could not find Silene Uralensis in any of my six books. (They are all old books from 1950's into 1960's.) That's why my wife and I could never find the darn thing. I went to the Internet and used Google Image Search for "Silene uralensis" and there it was, looking just like the ones in my picture. Other information I found was one WEB page called it "Apetalous Catchfly". Two other's gave it the common name Nodding Campion or Polar Campion. it was named after Silenus, friend of Bacchus. The plant was named by Matthias Lobelius, 1576. It is circumpolar and grows in the Rocky Mountains as far south Colorado. It is a member of the Pink Family and a cousin to my favorite flower, Moss Campion, (Silene acalais). Again, thank you for your help.
You'll probably find the old name, Lychnis apetala, in your books. Here is another example of plant form influenced by habitat (which is the norm), as with your dryad - this is a tiny plant in the alpine scree conditions in which I see it here, but lanky and stretched-out in the habitat you show it in. BTW, moss campion is Silene acaulis.
Thank you again abgardeneer. Yes, I knew that about the moss campion but have difficulties spelling those Latin names and didn't bother with looking it up. At least this is one flower I will not have to take with me up the U of A. (grin) My next picture of the Colville River trip shows us getting on the airplane to fly back home. I shouldn't have any more unknown flowers to throw your way for a while now. They just don't seem to do too well under 6 inches of snow. (GRIN) Dickie
