Silene acaulis | |
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Silene acaulis in Svalbard, Norway | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Caryophyllaceae |
Genus: | Silene |
Species: | S. acaulis
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Binomial name | |
Silene acaulis |
Silene acaulis, known as moss campion[2] or cushion pink, is a small wildflower that is common all over the high arctic and tundra and in high mountains of Eurasia and North America (Alps, Carpathians, southern Siberia, Pyrenees, British Isles, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Rocky Mountains). It is an evergreen perennial flowering plant in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae.
It is also called the compass plant, since the flowers appear first on the south side of the cushion.[3] (Various other plants also have this name.)