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| Silene laciniata ssp. laciniata |
| Family: Caryophyllaceae (Pink) |
| Flowers — color: red, size: 3/4", type: 5 petals |
| color | red |
| style | five petals |
Indian Pink has a showy flower. The fused sepals, one inch long and tinged red, and five red petals form a bugle, 1/2–3/4" wide. The tube has fine hair and feels very sticky. Each petal has three deep lacerations [laciniata] making four fingers. Three pistils and several stamens extend from the tube's mouth. Always horizontal, these flowers require a long-tongued pollinator, something only hummingbirds or sphinx moths provide. Another long red flower in the reserve, scarlet bugler, has a red tube that barely flares at the mouth.
Flower stalks grow from leaf nodes and form a panicle, a multi-branching array having blooms on petioles, short stems. Each panicle holds about a half dozen flowers, and a large plant may hold dozens of panicles. I've seen flowers at my height, six feet, or poking out at ankle level from a shrub.
Habit:
Indian Pink is a perennial herb with deep taproot. One to many brown or green stems rise or spread from the base, possibly four feet long. Pairs of very narrow lanceolate [broader near the base] leaves attach directly to the stem. Each leaf may grow four inches long. Stems, leaves and flowers have short light hair. It may be evergreen or go summer dormant.
The laciniata subspecies ranges from San Luis Obispo County south to Baja.
Indian Pink rarely grows in the open. The base is usually hidden in grass, under shrubs, or found in clearings in oak woodland.