GENUS 3. 



PINK FAMILY. 



13. Silene noctiflora L. Night-flowering Catchfly. 

 Fig. 1813. 



Silene noctiflora L. Sp. PI. 419. 1753. 



Annual, stout, viscid-pubescent, simple, or branching, 

 i-3 high. Lower and basal leaves obovate or oblanceo- 

 late, 2'-s' long, obtuse, narrowed into a broad petiole ; 

 upper leaves sessile, ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 

 i '-3' long; flowers few, pedicelled, white or pinkish, 8"- 

 12" broad, in a loose dichotomous panicle ; calyx io"-i5" 

 long, tubular, lonerved and beautifully veined, much 

 enlarged by the ripening pod, its teet!i linear, acute ; 

 petals 2-cleft. 



In waste places, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Mani- 

 toba, Montana, Florida, Missouri and Utah. Adventive from 

 Europe. Flowers opening at dusk and remaining so until the 

 morning of the next day, fragrant. July-Sept. 



14. Silene anglica L. English or Small-flowered Catchfly. Fig. 1814. 



Silene anglica L. Sp. PI. 416. 1753. 

 Silene gallica L. Sp. PI. 417. 1753. 



Annual, hirsute-pubescent, stem slender, usually erect, 

 simple or branched, i-2 high. Leaves spatulate or 

 oblanceolate, 6"-2' long, obtuse, sometives mucronate, 

 narrowed into a margined petiole, or the upper ones 

 narrower and acute; flowers in a terminal simple i-sided 

 spicate raceme, nearly sessile or the lower ones distant 

 and longer-pedicelled, sometimes all distinctly pedi- 

 celled; calyx cylindric or oblong-tubular in flower, 

 lo-nerved, villous, 4"-$" long, much enlarged by the 

 ripening pod and becoming ovoid with a contracted 

 throat, its teeth lanceolate, spreading; petals toothed, 

 entire or somewhat 2-cleft, white, somewhat longer than 

 the calyx. 



In waste places, Maine to Ontario, southern New York, 

 Pennsylvania and Missouri. Adventive from Europe. Ex- 

 tensively naturalized as a weed on the Pacific Coast, and 

 widely distributed in nearly all warm-temperate regions. 

 Has been mistaken for S. nocturna L. April-July. 



15. Silene dichotoma Ehrh. Forked Catchfly. 

 Fig. 1815. 



Silene dichotoma Ehrh. Beitr. 7: 143. 1792. 

 Silene racemosa Otth in DC. Prodr. i : 384. 1824. 



Annual, erect, branching, pubescent, i-2 high. 

 Lower and basal leaves lanceolate or oblanceolate, 2'- 

 3' long, acuminate or acute, tapering into a villous 

 petiole; upper leaves sessile, lanceolate or linear; flow- 

 ers white, sessile or very short-pedicelled, distant in 

 forking i-sided spikes; calyx cylindric, 6"-8" long, 

 hirsute, much enlarged by the ripening pod, its teeth 

 ovate-lanceolate, acute ; petals w r hite, bifid, with a short 

 obtuse crown. 



In fields and waste places, Maine to New Jersey, Pennsyl- 

 vania and Texas. Also in California. Adventive from 

 southern Europe. Summer. 



