Silene uniflora is a species of flowering plant in the carnation family known by the common name sea campion.

Description Silene uniflora is a perennial plant that forms a mat with stems growing outwards to between 10 and 40 cm. A plant will grow a large main root that can be a thick storage root like that of a carrot or turnip. The stems can grow along the ground or grow upwards towards their ends.

The leaves are hairless and glaucous, grey-green due to a covering of natural waxes. They have a fleshy texture and a variety of shapes including lanceolate, oblanceolate, elliptic or spatulate. The flowers white with five deeply notched petals, the five sepals fused and inflated to form a bladder. Each flower has three pistils and three stamens that are almost enclosed by the flower.

It is similar in appearance to the bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) but with flowers generally solitary.

Taxonomy In 1762 Carl Linnaeus named Silene amoena, a species that does not have the same description as Silene uniflora, but is regarded as a synonym of Silene uniflora subsp. uniflora. The scientific description and naming of the species as a whole was by Albrecht Wilhelm Roth in 1794. It is classified in the genus Silene which is in the family Caryophyllaceae.

Subspecies The sea campion has three subspecies listed as accepted by Plants of the World Online (POWO):

S. uniflora subsp. petraea Endemic to Sweden S. uniflora subsp. thorei Native to Southwest France (extinct in Spain) S. uniflora subsp. unifloraAtlantic Europe, the Azores, Madeira

However, other sources such as the World Flora Online (WFO) and World Plants (WP) list additional subspecies as accepted.

Silene uniflora subsp. cratericola (WP) Silene uniflora subsp. glareosa (WFO) Silene uniflora subsp. prostrata (WFO)

There are synonyms of sea campion or one of its three subspecies.

Table of Synonyms Name Year Rank Synonym of: Notes Behen alpinus 1953 species subsp. uniflora = het. Behen maritimus 1829 species subsp. uniflora = het. Behen uniflorus 1829 species subsp. uniflora = het. Behenantha uniflora 1975 species S. uniflora ≡ hom. Cucubalus alpinus 1786 species subsp. uniflora = het. Cucubalus behen var. maritimus 1812 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Cucubalus fabarius 1803 species subsp. thorei = het., nom. illeg. Cucubalus littoralis 1805 species subsp. uniflora = het. Cucubalus maritimus 1786 species subsp. uniflora = het. Oberna alpina 1976 species subsp. uniflora = het. Oberna behen subsp. maritima 1984 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het. Oberna behen subsp. thorei 1984 subspecies subsp. thorei ≡ hom. Oberna thorei 1977 species subsp. thorei ≡ hom. Oberna uniflora 1976 species S. uniflora ≡ hom. Oberna uniflora subsp. islandica 1977 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het. Silene alpina 1847 species subsp. uniflora = het., nom. illeg. Silene amoena 1762 species subsp. uniflora = het., nom. illeg. Silene bastardii 1878 species subsp. uniflora = het. Silene crassifolia 1810 species subsp. thorei ≡ hom., nom. illeg. Silene cucubalus proles maritima 1896 proles subsp. uniflora = het., nom. illeg. Silene cucubalus subsp. alpina 1948 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het., nom. illeg. Silene cucubalus subsp. thorei 1896 subspecies subsp. thorei ≡ hom. Silene cucubalus var. bastardii 1883 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Silene cucubalus var. petraea 1896 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Silene cucubalus var. tenella 1896 variety subsp. thorei = het. Silene inflata subsp. alpina 1887 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het., nom. illeg. Silene inflata subsp. maritima 1894 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het., nom. illeg. Silene inflata subsp. thorei 1894 subspecies subsp. thorei ≡ hom. Silene inflata var. maritima 1820 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Silene inflata var. petraea 1842 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Silene inflata var. uniflora 1831 variety S. uniflora ≡ hom. Silene maritima 1800 species subsp. uniflora = het. Silene maritima subsp. alpina 1878 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het. Silene maritima subsp. islandica 1956 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het. Silene maritima var. nigrescens 1905 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Silene maritima var. petraea 1879 variety subsp. petraea ≡ hom. Silene maritima var. stenophylla 1905 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Silene mauritanica 1869 species subsp. uniflora = het., not validly publ. Silene montana 1863 species subsp. uniflora = het. Silene stenophylla 1852 species subsp. uniflora = het., nom. illeg. Silene stenophylla var. micra 1852 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Silene thorei 1825 species subsp. thorei ≡ hom. Silene uniflora subsp. cratericola 1986 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het. Silene uniflora var. montana 1986 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Silene venosa proles maritima 1911 proles subsp. uniflora = het. Silene venosa subsp. alpina 1877 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het. Silene venosa var. maritima 1914 variety subsp. uniflora = het. Silene vulgaris subsp. alpina 1878 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het. Silene vulgaris subsp. cratericola 1971 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het. Silene vulgaris subsp. maritima 1961 subspecies subsp. uniflora = het. Silene vulgaris subsp. thorei 1964 subspecies subsp. thorei ≡ hom. Silene willdenowii 1949 species subsp. uniflora = het. Viscago maritima 1796 species subsp. uniflora = het. Wahlbergella uniflora 1843 species S. uniflora ≡ hom. Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym

Names Silene uniflora is known by the common name sea campion. The first use of this name dates to 1597.

Range and habitat Silene uniflora Silene uniflora is a maritime species growing in many European countries, but almost entirely along the coasts bordering the Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea. In northern Europe, it is native to the coasts of Scandinavia including Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Russia as far east as the Kola Peninsula. It is also listed as native to Poland by POWO. It is not found in, or native to, the Baltic States or Russia on the Baltic Sea. In western Europe, it is native to the west coast of France, the northern coast of Spain, and a limited area in northern Portugal. It grows all around the shores of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and is also found in some mountainous areas near fresh water, though only rarely. Further out in the Atlantic Ocean, it is native to the Azores, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and Iceland.

It has been introduced to Germany, Argentina, and New Zealand.

It is one of the long-lived perennial plant species that establish on coastal shingle that has been stable for between five and twenty years. It also grows in the dunes and at the strandline on beaches.

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