12 MR. F. N. WILLIAMS ON THE GENUS SILENE. 
B. Capsule plurilocular at the base. 
a. Capsule dehiscing by teeth equal in . 
number to the styles .. ..  WISCARIA. 
b. Capsule dehiscing by twice as many teeth 
as the styles. 
a. Styles 5 .. +e oe a ..  HUDIANTHE. 
B. Styles 3 .. oe os - .. SILENE. 
II. SusBpIvIsioNn OF THE GENUS INTO GrRouUPS. 
The genus Silene was founded by Linneus, and was defined 
by him in the first edition of his ‘Genera Plantarum.’* The 
genus is characterized as follows ¢ :— 
Calyx. Perianthium monophyllum, clavatum, leve, 5-denta- 
tum, persistens. 
Corolla. Petala 5. Ungues angusti, longitudine calycis,. 
marginati. Limbus planus, obtusus, emarginatus. Nec- 
tarium componitur e duobus denticulis, in collo cujusvis 
petali. 
Stamina. Filamenta 10, subulata, alterna, unguibus peta- 
lorum inserta, seriora. Antheres oblonge. 
Pistillum. Ovarium cylindraceum. Styli 3 vel 5, simplices, 
staminibus longiores. Stigmata contra solem flexa. 
Pericarpium. Capsula cylindracea, tecta, 3-5-locularis, apice 
6-fariam dehiscens. 
Semina plurima, reniformia. 
This description sufficiently circumscribes the species in the 
genus as understood by Rohrbach, except that the calyx 
(perianth) is not always “ leve,” and that the lamina (limbus) 
of the petal is not often “ emarginatus.” 
By Adanson,}. Stlene was disintegrated into six distinct 
genera, in contravention, however, of the Linnean canon, 
which says, “Habitus occulte consulendus est, ne genus 
erroneum levi de caussa fingatur.”§ It was on such & 
secondary character that Adanson carved his six genera out 
of the Linnean genus. They are—Silene, Atocion, Oberna, 
Otites, Steris, and Kaleria. As a synonym Linneus cites 
Viscago, Dill. Hort. Eltham. p. 309. 
* p. 132, n. 372 (1787). 
+ With the verbal emendations of Richter’s ‘Codex Linneanus.’ 
> Familles des Plantes, ii, p. 254 (1763). 
§ Philosophia Botanica, ed. II, p. 121. 
