Silene nepalensis

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Silene nepalensis Majumdar, J. Indian Bot. Soc. 42: 649 1963. (syn: Lychnis multicaulis Wall.; Melandrium brachypetalum var. tibetanum Rohrb.; Melandrium multicaule (Wall.) Walp.);
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N. Pakistan to Qinghai and China (Sichuan, Yunnan) as per POWO;
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China (Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan), Tibet, Bhutan, Chumbi, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir (Kashmir), India (Himachal Pradesh), Nepal as per Catalogue of Life;
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Perennial herbs, about 10-60 cm tall, with many fertile scapes, sometimes caespitose. Stem erect, simple or branched, glabrous near the base, hirsute towards the apex with short whitish hairs, rootstock slender, long and stout. Leaves simple, opposite, crowded near the base and gradually reduced towards the shoot, linear spathulate, about 5-12 x 0.3-0.6 cm across, base attenuate, margin ciliate, slightly recurved upwards, apex acute, midrib impressed above and prominent beneath, glabrous or finely pubescent, pubescent both above and beneath, petiole subsessile becoming sessile above, stipules absent. Inflorescence simple or branched cymes, about 1-5 flowered, terminal or axillary. Flowers bisexual, noddling when young and erect later, pedicel pubescent, about 5-12 mm long, bracts paired, linear, margins scarious, herbaceous, calyx tube variable, cylindric-campanulate, about 7-12 x 3-4 mm across, slightly inflated, 10 veined with brown, purple or blackish veins, margins scarious, membranous, commissures between sepals 1 veined, teeth triangular, somewhat recurved with scarious, ciliate margins, petals 5, oblanceolate to obovate, variously shaped and dissected, reddish pink, limb and clawed cuneate, about 2-3 mm longer than calyx, usually marked with 2 lateral auricles, limb bi-fid, teeth triangular, apex emarginated, coronal scales present, androphores about 1-1.5 mm long. Stamens 10 or less, included, usually adnate to petals, inserted from carpophore, filaments distinct, subglabrous, nectarines present at filament bases. Ovary superior, unilocular above and 3-5 locular near the base, about 3.5-4 x 2 mm across, style 5. Fruit capsule, obovoid-globose, about 11-12 x 6-7 mm across, dehiscing with 5 valves or splitting into 10 teeth, sometimes teeth bifid. Seeds many, reniform or globose, about 0.7-0.8 mm across, nearly papillate or minutely dorsally tuberculate, greyish brown.
Grassy slopes of temperate and alpine Himalayas, altitude 2100-3400 m.
Asia: Bhutan, China, India: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal
(Attributions- Ganeshaiah, K. N., UAS, Bangalore, India.; Kailash, B. R., ATREE, Bangalore, India.; Royal Norwegian Embassy grants. Indian Bioresource Information Network (IBIN), Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi as per India Biodiversity Portal)
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