Silene

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For other uses, see Silene (disambiguation).
Silene
White campion close 700.jpg
Silene latifolia (white campion)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Core eudicots
Order:
Caryophyllales
Family:
Caryophyllaceae
Genus:
Silene
Species

About 300 species, see text.

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Silene is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing approximately 700 species, it is the largest genus in the family.[1] Common names include campion (which is shared with the related genus Lychnis) and catchfly. Many Silene species are widely distributed, particularly in the northern hemisphere.[1]

Etymology

Silene is the feminine form of Silenus, a Greek woodland deity.[2]

Uses

Silene undulata (syn. S. capensis) is known as undlela ziimhlophe ("white paths") by the Xhosa of South Africa. A Xhosa diviner identifies and collects the plant from the wild. The roots are ground, mixed with water, and beaten to a froth, which is consumed by novice diviners during the full moon to influence their dreams. They also take it to prepare for various rituals. The root has such a strong, musky essence that the diviners who consume it exude the scent in their sweat.[3]

Scientific history

Silene was originally described by Linnaeus, and members of this genus have been the subject of research by preeminent plant ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and geneticists, including Charles Darwin, Gregor Mendel, Carl Correns, Herbert G. Baker, and Janis Antonovics. Many Silene species continue to be widely used study systems, particularly in the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology.[4] The genus has been used as a model for understanding the genetics of sex determination for over a century. Silene species commonly contain a mixture of hermaphroditic and female (or male-sterile) individuals (gynodioecy), and early studies by Correns showed that male sterility could be maternally inherited,[5][6] an example of what is now known as cytoplasmic male sterility. Two independent groups of species in Silene have evolved separate male and female sexes (dioecy) with chromosomal sex determination that is analogous to the system found in humans and other mammals.[7][8] Silene flowers are frequently visited by flies, such as Rhingia campestris.[9] Silene species have also been used to study speciation, host-pathogen interactions, biological species invasions, adaptation to heavy-metal-contaminated soils, metapopulation genetics, and organelle genome evolution.[4] Notably, some members of the genus Silene hold the distinction of harboring the largest mitochondrial genomes ever identified.[10]

Selected species

If the related genera Lychnis, Melandrium, and Viscaria are included in Silene, it contains about 700 species.[1] Divisions of the genus into subgenera or sections before 2003 do not seem to be well-supported by molecular evidence.[1]

Silene colorata

Species include:

Silene gallica var. quinquevulnera

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Quattrocchi, U. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. 1999. 4: 2482. ISBN 0-8493-2678-8
  3. ↑ Hirst, M. (2005). Dreams and medicines: The perspective of Xhosa diviners and novices in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology 5(2) 1-22.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bernasconi et al. 2009. Silene as a model system in ecology and evolution. Heredity. 103:5-14. PMID 19367316
  5. ↑ Correns C. 1906. Die vererbung der Geshlechstsformen bei den gynodiocischen Pflanzen. Ber. Dtsch Bot. Ges. 24: 459–474.
  6. ↑ Correns C. 1908. Die rolle der mannlichen Keimzellen bei der Geschlechtsbestimmung der gynodioecishen Pflanzen. Ber. Dtsch Bot. Ges. 26A: 626–701.
  7. ↑ Evolution of Sex Chromosomes: The Case of the White Campion. PLoS Biol 3(1): e28. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030028
  8. ↑ Mrackova M. et al. 2008. Independent origin of sex chromosomes in two species of the genus Silene. 179(2): 1129–1133. PMID 18558658
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Sloan DB et al. 2012. Rapid Evolution of Multichromosomal Genomes in Flowering Plant Mitochondria with Exceptionally High Mutation Rates. PLoS Biol. 10: e1001241. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001241
  11. ↑ Silene undulata Aiton. SANBI Red List of South African Plants.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Further reading

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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