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Silene acaulis
MOSS CHAMPION, COMPASS PLANT, CUSHION PINK
SKU: 2284-010
1.05 off
Silene acaulis, known as moss campion, compass plant, or cushion pink, is a small wildflower. It is native to North America, and is common all over the high arctic and the higher mountains of Eurasia and North America (south to the Alps, Carpathians, southern Siberia, Pyrenees, British Isles, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Rocky Mountains). In the United States it inhabits Colorado, the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon, the Olympics, the northern Cascades of Washington, and Alaska.
One of the common name is compass plant, since the flowers appear first on the south side of the cushion.
Moss campion is a low, ground-hugging perennial plant with evergreen foliage. It may seem densely matted and moss-like. The dense cushions are up to a foot or more in diameter. The bright green leaves are narrow, arising from the base of the plant. The pink flowers are borne on short stalks that may be up to 2.5 cm (1 inch) long, but are usually much shorter.
It usually has pink flowers, though very rarely they may be white, and star-shaped.
Plants in Colorado have been estimated to reach 75 to 100 years in age, and Alaskan plants may reach 300 years. The oldest known moss campion is 350 years old and has a diameter of two feet.
It inhabits alpine fellfield, on windswept rocky ridges and summits above treeline. It grows mainly in dry, gravelly localities, but also in damper places. With the cushions it produces its own, warmer climate with higher temperatures inside, when the sun shines.
In Maine it is possibly extirpated, and in New Hampshire Silene acaulis var. exscapa is threatened.
The seeds should be sown upon receipt, and it is recommended to let them winter in the greenhouse for their first winter season. They should be grown in well-drained soil with full sun. The climate can be cool.
This plant does have saponins which, though toxic, are hard to absorb in the body. Nevertheless it is advised to not consume this plant.
Limited supply.
Type: Hardy perennial
Hardiness zones: 2-7
Height: 10cm, 4"
Location: Sun or part shade
Seeds per packet: 10
Silene acaulis, known as moss campion, compass plant, or cushion pink, is a small wildflower. It is native to North America, and is common all over the high arctic and the higher mountains of Eurasia and North America (south to the Alps, Carpathians, southern Siberia, Pyrenees, British Isles, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Rocky Mountains). In the United States it inhabits Colorado, the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon, the Olympics, the northern Cascades of Washington, and Alaska.
One of the common name is compass plant, since the flowers appear first on the south side of the cushion.
Moss campion is a low, ground-hugging perennial plant with evergreen foliage. It may seem densely matted and moss-like. The dense cushions are up to a foot or more in diameter. The bright green leaves are narrow, arising from the base of the plant. The pink flowers are borne on short stalks that may be up to 2.5 cm (1 inch) long, but are usually much shorter.
It usually has pink flowers, though very rarely they may be white, and star-shaped.
Plants in Colorado have been estimated to reach 75 to 100 years in age, and Alaskan plants may reach 300 years. The oldest known moss campion is 350 years old and has a diameter of two feet.
It inhabits alpine fellfield, on windswept rocky ridges and summits above treeline. It grows mainly in dry, gravelly localities, but also in damper places. With the cushions it produces its own, warmer climate with higher temperatures inside, when the sun shines.
In Maine it is possibly extirpated, and in New Hampshire Silene acaulis var. exscapa is threatened.
The seeds should be sown upon receipt, and it is recommended to let them winter in the greenhouse for their first winter season. They should be grown in well-drained soil with full sun. The climate can be cool.
This plant does have saponins which, though toxic, are hard to absorb in the body. Nevertheless it is advised to not consume this plant.
Limited supply.
Type: Hardy perennial
Hardiness zones: 2-7
Height: 10cm, 4"
Location: Sun or part shade
Seeds per packet: 10
