Home/Species/ Ovate Catchfly

Silene ovata

Pursh

Ovate Catchfly

G3Vulnerable Found in 4 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G3VulnerableGlobal Rank

HighThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.144930

Element CodePDCAR0U180

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassDicotyledoneae

OrderCaryophyllales

FamilyCaryophyllaceae

GenusSilene

Other Common Names

Blue Ridge catchfly (EN) Blue Ridge Catchfly (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Conservation Status

Rank MethodLegacy Rank calculation - Excel v3.1x

Review Date2017-12-21

Change Date2004-07-22

Edition Date2017-12-21

Edition AuthorsMorse, L. (1994, rev. 1997); S.L.Neid, (1998); D. Gries (1998), rev. A. Tomaino (2004), rev. Treher (2017)

Threat ImpactHigh

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences81 - 300

Rank Reasons

Silene ovata is rare throughout its range; it occurs from southwest Virginia, south to Georgia, and west to southeast Illinois and northern Arkansas. There are over 110 occurrences. Most populations are small and much of its habitat has been lost. Threats include logging, grazing, trampling, road construction, and right-of-way maintenance.

Range Extent Comments

The center of the species is in the southern Appalachians (Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) and extending to Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas and west to Illinois.

Occurrences Comments

As of 2017, the NatureServe Central Database has element occurrence records for eleven state that represent extant occurrences: seven in Alabama, twelve in Arkansas, fourteen in Georgia, four in Illinois, one in Indiana, three in Kentucky, six in Mississippi, sixty in North Carolina, nine in Tennessee, and one in Virginia.

Threat Impact Comments

Highly threatened by forest management practices, and to a lesser extent by land-use conversion and habitat fragmentation (Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project 2002). Other threats include grazing by deer and feral hogs, flooding by impoundment, road construction, and quarrying. Plants near roads and trails are threatened by trampling and maintenance activities. Any soil disturbance is likely to have a negative effect on this species due to the resultant erosion (ALNHP 1994).

Ecology & Habitat

Diagnostic Characteristics

Silene ovata is distinguished from other Silene species by its opposite leaves, white, 8-cleft petals, relatively tall stature, and short rigid pubesence on the stem (Weakley 2004). S. stellata and S. polypetala are two similar species which also have fringed white petals and occur in woods. S. ovata is distinguished from S. stellata by its leaf arrangement; S. stellata has middle stem leaves in whorls of four whereas they are opposite in S. ovata (Radford et al. 1968). S. ovata is distinguished from S. polypetala, by its relatively taller stature, 5-15 dm tall compared to 2-6 dm tall for S. polypetala, and by stem pubescence which is short and rigid in S. ovata but long and villous in S. polypetala Weakley (2004). For a technical description see Radford et al. (1968) and Weakley (2004).

Habitat

Typical habitat of Silene ovata is rich woods. In the Carolinas, Silene ovata occurs on circumneutral soils of woodlands and forests, especially over mafic or calcareous rocks, mostly at medium elevations (Weakley 2004). In Tennessee, it occurs in a variety of open or forested sandy or pebbly habitats including floodplains (Gay et al. 1996). In Illinois, it occurs in forests on moderate to steep slopes, often in very rocky habitats with shallow loess-derived soils over sandstone rock, and a pH between 5.8 and 6.2 (Basinger 2002). In Alabama it has been found in hardwood-dominated forest on bluffs and ravines, and in partial shade on a Black Belt clay bluff (ALNHP 1994).

Terrestrial Habitats

Forest/Woodland

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN3

Province	Rank	Native
Georgia	S1	Yes
Arkansas	S3	Yes
Alabama	S2	Yes
Virginia	S1	Yes
Tennessee	S2	Yes
Kentucky	S1	Yes
Mississippi	S1	Yes
South Carolina	S1	Yes
Illinois	S2	Yes
North Carolina	S3	Yes
Indiana	S1	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
1 - Residential & commercial development	Restricted (11-30%)	Serious - slight	High (continuing)
1.3 - Tourism & recreation areas	Restricted (11-30%)	Serious - slight	High (continuing)
2 - Agriculture & aquaculture	Small (1-10%)	Unknown	High (continuing)
2.3 - Livestock farming & ranching	Small (1-10%)	Unknown	High (continuing)
4 - Transportation & service corridors	Small (1-10%)	Serious - slight	High (continuing)
4.1 - Roads & railroads	Small (1-10%)	Serious - slight	High (continuing)
5 - Biological resource use	Restricted (11-30%)	Unknown	High (continuing)
5.3 - Logging & wood harvesting	Restricted (11-30%)	Unknown	High (continuing)
8 - Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Pervasive - large	Unknown	High (continuing)
8.1 - Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Restricted - small	Serious - slight	Low (long-term)
8.2 - Problematic native species/diseases	Pervasive - large	Unknown	High (continuing)

Plant Characteristics

DurationPERENNIAL

Economic Value (Genus)Yes

Roadless Areas (4)

Arkansas (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Clifty Canyon	Ozark-St. Francis National Forest	1,963
East Fork	Ozark-St. Francis National Forest	13,037

North Carolina (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bearwallow	Pisgah National Forest	4,113
Laurel Mountain	Pisgah National Forest	5,683

References (19)

Alabama Natural Heritage Program. 1994. Tri-state comprehensive study, Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basins: Silene ovata.
Baker, B. and T. Witsell. 2018. Final report on Claytonia arkansana Yatsk. R. Evans & Witsell [Arkansas spring-beauty], Neviusia alabamensis A. Gray [Alabama snow-wreath], Primula frenchii (Vasey) A. R. Mast & Reveal [French's shooting-star], and Silene ovata Pursh [Ovate-leaf catchfly] Survey and Research work in Arkansas 2017. Report prepared and submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.
Basinger, M.A. 2002b. Distribution and habitat characteristics of Silene ovata Pursh (Caryophyllaceae) populations in Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science 95:(1): 11-19. [http://www.il-st-acad-sci.org/transactions/95_1a.html]
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2005. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 5. Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae: Caryophyllales, Polygonales, and Plumbaginales. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. vii + 656 pp.
Gay, M., M. Pyne, A. Shea, and C. Nordman. 1996. Guide to rare plants - Tennessee Division of Forestry District 6. Tennessee Dept. Agriculture, Division of Forestry, Nashville.
Gleason, H.A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, 2nd ed., New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
Hill, S. R. 2003. Conservation Assessment for Ovate catchfly (Silene ovata) Pursh. Report prepared for the USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region, by the Illinois Natural History Survey. 9 May 2003. 28 pp. http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/wildlife/tes/ca-overview/docs/plant_Silene_ovata-Ovate_Catchfly.pdf
Jones, S. B., Jr., and N. C. Coile. 1988. The distribution of the vascular flora of Georgia. Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens.
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Logan, J. 1997. Report on Silene ovata, survey, 1997. Monitoring report for the Arkansas Natural Heritage Program by John Logan, Botanist. 27pp.
Logan, J. Botanist, Arkansas Natural Heritage Program. Personal communication with S.L.Neid (MRO), November, 1997.
McCauley, D.E., J. Raveill, and J. Antonovics. 1995. Local founding events as determinants of genetic structure in a plant metapopulation. Heredity 75: 630-636.
Radford, A. E., H. E. Ahles, and C. R. Bell. 1964. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Univ. North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1183 pp.
Smith, E. B. 1988b. An atlas and annotated list of the vascular plants of Arkansas, 2nd edition. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project. 2002. A partnership between the U.S. Forest Service-Region 8, Natural Heritage Programs in the Southeast, NatureServe, and independent scientists to develop and review data on 1300+ regionally and locally rare species in the Southern Appalachian and Alabama region. Database (Access 97) provided to the U.S. Forest Service by NatureServe, Durham, North Carolina.
Terwilliger, K. 1991. Virginia's endangered species: Proceedings of a symposium. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Co. Blacksburg, VA.
Weakley, A. S. 2004. Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia. Draft as of March 2004. UNC Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill. Available online: http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm. Accessed 2004.
White, D. 1999. Section Six Program Report. Report prepared for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlanta, GA.

Silene ovata

Diagnostic Characteristics

Habitat

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