Heliosperma is a genus of
flowering plants in the family
Caryophyllaceae.[2] As such, it is closely related to the large genus Silene, but its members can be told apart from Silene by the crest of long papillae on the seeds.[1] The majority of the species are narrow
endemics from the
Balkan Peninsula, but H. alpestre is endemic to the
Eastern Alps, and H. pusillum is found from the Cordillera Cantábrica in northern Spain to the
Carpathians.[3] Like members of the genus Silene and other related genera, Heliosperma is attacked by species of the anther
smut fungus Microbotryum.[4] Cases of parallel divergence events between alpine and mountain populations have been reported in this genus.[5][6]
Species
Around 15 species are currently recognised in the genus:[7]
^Marcin Piątek; Matthias Lutz; Anna Ronikier; Martin Kemler; Urszula Świderska-Burek (2012). "Microbotryum heliospermae, a new anther smut fungus parasitic on Heliosperma pusillum in the mountains of the European Alpine System". Fungal Biology. 116 (2): 185–195.
Bibcode:
2012FunB..116..185P.
doi:
10.1016/j.funbio.2011.10.011.
PMID22289764.