SileneJ] xvn. caryophyllace^; (oliver). 139 



Flowers in unilateral racemes or solitary. 



Flowers 2-6 j lowest pedicel about 1 in. Petals scarcely ex- 



serted, with fleshy 2-lobed appendix 2. S. Biafrce. 



Flowers usually 3-9 ; pedicels very short. Petals with claw 

 equalling calyx and 2-fid appendix 3. S. Burchellii. 



Flowers usually solitary. Petals with claw equalling calyx ; ap- 

 pendix obsolete 4. S.flammulafolia. 



1. S. Macrosolen, Stead.; Rich. Fl. Abyss, i. 44. A glabrous, pale 

 or somewhat glaucous perennial, branching from the stock ; flowering- steins 

 erect, simple or forking, apparently a little viscid above, 2-3 ft. high. 

 Leaves narrow-linear, tapering to a fine point, with a prominent midrib be- 

 neath, scarcely i in. in breadth. Flowers in a loose forking panicle. Calyx 

 elongate, narrowly tubular, a little wider above, 1-1£ Ul - l° n g; teeth short, 

 ovate, cuspidate ; nerves not prominent nor coloured. Petals considerably 

 exserted (limb 2-fid with obtuse lobes, Rich.). Carpophore much exceeding 

 the capsule. 



nile Land. Abyssinia, Schimper ! and others. 



2. S. Biafrae, Hook.f. inJourn. Linn. Sac. vii. 183. Flowering-stems 

 erect, 1-3 ft., simple or slightly branched, pubescent. Leaves linear, rather 

 neshy; the upper very narrow, acute, scabrid-pubescent, 1-2 in. long. 

 Flowers 2-6, not exceeding f in. in length, erect, in unilateral cymose ra- 

 cemes ; pedicels of the lowest flower about 1 in., of the upper much shorter. 

 Calyx oblong-campanulate, with 10 dark, hispid-pubescent nervures; teeth 

 triangular-lanceolate. Petals fleshy, about equalling the calyx ; lamina 2- 

 fi d, with obtuse lobes; appendix 2-lobed, very short, fleshy. Carpophore 

 aoout one-third the length of the capsule. 



Upper Guinea. Camaroons mountain, 8000-10,000 ft., Mann I 



3 - S. Burchellii, Otth. in DC. Prod. i. 374. An erect, puberulous or 

 scabrid-pubescent perennial of 1-2 ft., branching from a woody stock or oc- 

 curring as an annual. Lower leaves linear-lanceolate to oval, narrowed be- 

 gw, usually acute, more or less scabrid-pubescent, ciliate below ; upper leaves 

 "near, tapering to each end, acute. Flowers usually 3-9, in erect, unilateral, 

 s picate racemes, very shortly pedicellate or the upper subsessile. Calyx cla- 

 Vate , Ht in. long, with narrow-triangular acute teeth and more or less darkly 

 coloured nervures. Claw of petals equalling calyx ; limb rather thick, ob- 

 tusely 2-fid, with 2 squam jfbrm appendices. ' Carpophore about as long as 

 «* capsule. -,«?. Oliveriana, Otth. in DC. Prod. i. 373. S. Chimisis, Rich. 

 «■ Abyss, i. 44. S. sericea, Rich. I. c. 43. 



Nile Land. Abyssinia, Schimper I Both! Parens! and others; ? Nubia (S. bra- 

 ''Wachys, Webb, Frag. Fl. iEthiop. 34), Schweinf. et Asch. Emm. 

 s A so in Arabia, Syria, and at the Cape. (See < Flora Capensis,* i. 123, for synonymy. 



■ "andestina, Jacq., is probably a variety.) ™ ., , ,.,. u „<w , 



. V «7 nearly allied to 8. imbricate and & bipartite, Desf. Fl. Atlant., although after a 

 •? mpanson of specimens, I have not felt authorized to unite them nor to follow Richard in 

 J. eBt ''y»g an Abyssinian Silene with the 8. sericea of AHioni. Between the S. serxcea, 



Kb ; and S. chirensis, Rich., I find no specific difference. 



*. S. flammulaefolia, Sled.; Rich. FL Abyss, i. 43. A ceespitose 



