Silene radicosa, Boiss. & Heldr.

29. S. radicosa Boiss. & Heldr. View in CoL in Boiss., Diagn. Pl. Or. Nov. 1(6): 24 (1846).

Caespitose, with thick woody stock and numerous erect flowering stems 15-3O(-6O) cm; internodes very long, the lower rough with minute deflexed hairs, the upper glabrous. Basal leaves somewhat fleshy, spathulate, mucronate, margin strongly ciliate; upper cauline very small, linear. Inflorescence small, (1—)2- to 5-flowered. Calyx 8-13 mm, coriaceous, somewhat sulcate, with wide simple veins; teeth acute, patent, ciliate. Petals reddish or greenish; coronal scales small. Capsule 8-10 mm, slightly exceeding calyx; carpophore c. 3 mm, pubescent. • Mountains o f S. part o f Balkan peninsula. Al Gr Ju. S. oligantha Boiss. & Heldr. in Boiss., Diagn. Pl. Or. Nov. 3 (1): 75 (1853), described from N. Greece, is considered by some authors to be specifically distinct. It is like 29 but the basal leaves are broadly spathulate and pubescent beneath, and the calyx is c. 7 mm, with short, wide, erect teeth. S. radicosa subsp. pseudoradicosa Rech. fil. , Bot. Jahrb. 80: 320 (1961), described from Greece ( N. Evvoia ), also has a short calyx (c. 7 mm); the capsule is c. 1 | as long as the calyx and twice as long as the carpophore. Its relationship to S. oligantha is not clear.