- Scientific name: Silene caroliniana ssp. pensylvanica (Michx.) Clausen
Species of Greatest Conservation Need (MA State Wildlife Action Plan)
Description
Wild pink (Silene caroliniana ssp. pensylvanica) is a colorful, late-spring, perennial wildflower that grows at the edge of woods, along paths, and in areas not in deep shade. It is best found at the end of May or very early June when the bright pink (sometimes white) flowers are in full display. The flowering period lasts about 12 days. The plant grows in a clump and is about 20 cm (8 in) in height. There are many leaves at the base of the plant and a pair of opposite, sessile leaves along the stem. The leaves are entire (no teeth along the margins), and the basal leaves are oblanceolate (the end of the leaf is wider than the base). The leaves are up to 12 cm (4.7 in) long and vary from 12-30 mm (0.47-1.18 in) wide, and glabrous (without hairs) on both surfaces, with the margins and veins of the leaf pubescent on the lower surface.
The petals in this family (the pink family, or Caryophyllaceae) are separate. They appear to be fused into a tube, and the five-petal structure makes these look like phlox, but the petals are not joined and can be pulled apart. The outer edge of the petals is not notched. The calyx is a tube of joined sepals that covers the base of the petals. This calyx tube is up to 20 mm (0.75 in) long and is glandular-pubescent. There are ten stamens within the flower. The pollinated flowers ripen into a capsule that is 1 cm in length (0.5 in) that will split open at the top and release the seeds, which are about 1.5 mm (0.06 in) in diameter.
Wild pink looks similar to a few species of campion, which are in the same genus. However, campions mostly have notched petals. It also may resemble species of phlox, but those have joined petals that form a corolla tube, whereas wild pink has separate petals. Finally, the similar species are mostly introduced and occur in more weedy, disturbed sites.
Life cycle and behavior
This is a perennial wildflower which blooms from mid-May or to the end of June (Seymour 1969). It is pollinated by a wide range of insects, including bees, moths and butterflies.
Population status
Wild pink is a Species of Greatest Conservation Need and is maintained on the Massachusetts plant watch list. Wild pink has 8 populations in the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species database that have been verified since 1999 from Berkshire, Franklin, and Middlesex Counties. Past records, older than 1999, also include populations in Hampshire, Worcester Suffolk, Norfolk, and Bristol Counties.
Distribution in Massachusetts
1999-2024
Based on records in the Natural Heritage Database
Distribution and abundance
Wild pink (Silene caroliniana. ssp. pensylvanica) is known from New Hampshire south to South Carolina, extending west to Tennessee and Ohio. It is of concern in most states where it occurs except in Virginia and West Virginia where it is secure and apparently secure, respectfully. It is critically imperiled in Delaware, North Carolina and Tennessee. In New England, it is possibly extirpated in New Hampshire, imperiled in Massachusetts, not ranked in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and not known from Maine and Vermont.
Habitat
Wild pink is found in rocky woods, sometimes in oak/hickory woods, scrub oak/pitch pine woods, along roadsides, railroad tracks, clearings, and trails. Some associates include Quercus rubra (northern red oak), Quercus velutina (black oak), Quercus alba (white oak), Quercus ilicifolia (scrub oak), Quercus prinoides (dwarf chestnut oak), Vaccinium angustifolium (low sweet blueberry), Vaccinium pallidum (early sweet blueberry), Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge), Lespedeza capitata (round-headed bush clover), Potentilla canadensis (dwarf cinquefoil), Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem), Comandra umbellata (false toadflax), Aureolaria flava (smooth false foxglove), Linaria canadensis (oldfield toadflax), Krigia virginica (dwarf dandelion), Viola pedata (bird's foot violet), Ionactis linariifolia (flax-leaved aster), Achillea millefolium (yarrow), and Rubus flagellaris (dewberry).
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Threats
Forest succession, the closure of the canopy of forests, is the primary threat to this species, as this species needs open rocky land.
Conservation
Management
Careful and thorough botanical inventory work will help with management decisions and should be a part of follow-up to management work. This is a species that is likely favored by management that reverses the effects of forest succession: e.g., canopy clearing and prescribed fire.
Research needs
Research is needed to determine whether this plant can be grown in a nursery or garden setting for purposes of reintroductions. If habitat degradation accelerates losses of current populations, this strategy could prove useful to long-term conservation of this species.
References
Fernald, M.L. 1950. Gray’s Manual of Botany, A Handbook of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of the Central and Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Eighth (Centennial). D. Van Nostrand Co.
Gleason, H.A., and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second edition. Bronx, NY: New York Botanical Garden.
Haines, A. 2011. New England Wild Flower Society's Flora Novae Angliae: A Manual for the Identification of Native and Naturalized Higher Vascular Plants of New England. Yale University Press.
Seymour, Frank C. 1969. The Flora of New England, First edition. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc. Tokyo, Japan.
Contact
| Date published: | May 9, 2025 |
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