Synonym: Anotites menziesii.  Silene menziesii.  (Catchfly)
Caryophyllaceae (Pink Family)

Montane.  Open woodlands. Summer.
Valley of the East Fork of the San Juan River, June 25, 2007.

Anotites menziesii can be a very common plant of open woodlands.  Its "Catchfly" common name comes from its glandular (sticky) hairs.  The pictured plants are part of a colony of over a hundred plants, a common growth pattern because the plant sprouts from elongated underground roots.  Flowers are quite small and arise from the leaf axil.  Leaves are noticeably widest at the middle and taper quickly to a point on both ends.  This leaf shape and the flower structure help to distinguish this plant from the similar Moehringia machrophylla (below).  Both plants grow in colonies and share similar habitats, although Moehringia machrophylla can grow at higher altitudes.

This plant was first named Silene menziesii by William Hooker in 1830; Edward Greene renamed it Anotites menziesii in 1905.  Weber accepts the Anotites genus name; Flora of North America and John Kartesz accept Silene.  Archibald Menzies, physician and naturalist aboard several major 18th century sea and land explorations, was the first scientist to explore the Pacific Northwest.  Pseudotsuga menziesii, what we now commonly call Douglas Fir, was first collected for science by Menzies, not Douglas.  (More biographical information.) 

"Anotites" is of unknown origin, but Weber theorizes that it is probably from "a" "notites", meaning "not" "marked", hence "unrecognized' ".