At home in the great white north

Silene acaulis, June 16, 2023

June 23, Mt. Champion 11,600’

Garden above Ruby, 12,800’, August 4, 2023

Common & scientific name

Moss campion, Silene acaulis

Family

Pink, Caryophyllaceae

Location

Above Linkins Lake, 12,400’

Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact

This perennial favorite of the high alpine occurs in almost all arctic and alpine habitats throughout the northern hemisphere. It reaches as far south as Arizona and as far north in Greenland well above the arctic circle, within twenty-five miles of the most northern growing of any plant. And according to extensive studies done on this alpine jewel in the 1950s in Rocky Mountain National Park, its roots go down as far as six feet—hard to believe in the (very) Rocky Mountains.

Geissler, 12,200’, July 21, 2023

Geissler, 12,900’, July 21, 2023