The colors below indicate the kind of documentation available for this species
in the California counties where it occurs.
Western Campion Silene occidentalis (Caryophyllaceae)
The typically showy structure in higher plants that we call a flower functions to attract potential pollinators through the presentation of food or other rewards and the production of viable seeds for a successive generation. Flowers are pollinated by diverse agents such as insects, birds, bats, non-flying mammals, wind, and water. Ants visit flowers to feed on pollen and nectar. They are not good pollinators, however, because they move slowly from plant to plant, tend to visit few flowers, and are not equipped to carry pollen for long distances. The Western Campion has sticky glandular hairs on its stems that appear to discourage non-flying insects from crawling to the flowers to thieve pollen or nectar.
DISTRIBUTION: Chaparral and coniferous forests from the high southern Cascade Ranges and Modoc Plateau to the northern High Sierra Nevada; 700-2300 m.
