326 DECANDRIA— PENTAGYNIA. Lychnis. 



round, branched, leafy, about a yard high. Leaves sessile, 

 joined at the base, linear-lanceolate, Fl. on upright stalks, 

 purple, with blueish streaks, large and very handsome, however 

 odious in the sight of the farmer among his ripening corn. Cal. 

 very hairy, with long, narrow, smoother teeth, upright before 

 and after flowering. This genus has been, by many botanists, 

 united with Lychnis ; from which it is distinguished chiefly by 

 the very hard and tough calyx, and undivided petals, whose 

 teeth moreover, when present, are peculiarly horny and sharp, 

 unlike those of any other plants of this natural order ; but they 

 are wanting in our only British species. 

 This weed should be eradicated by hand before flowering. 



242. LYCHNIS. Lychnis, or Campion. 



Linn. Ge«. 231. J«ss. 302. Fl.Br.AdZ. Tourn. tA75.f. C—E, 

 I—M. Lam. <. 391. Gcertn. t. 130. 



Nat. Ord. see n. 241. 



Cal. inferior, of 1 leaf, oblong, membranous, ribbed, 5- 

 toothed, permanent. Pet. 5 ; their claws flat, thin-edged, 

 as long as the tube of the calyx, mostly crowned ; border 

 flat, spreading, mostly divided. Filam. longer than the 

 calyx; 5 alternate ones later than the rest, attached to 

 the claws of the petals. Antli. oblong, incumbent. Germ. 

 superior, nearly ovate. Styles 5, occasionally 3 or 4, awl- 

 shaped, longer than the stamens. Stig7nas reflexed, downy. 

 Caps, more or less perfectly ovate, of 1 , 3, or 5 cells, open- 

 ing 5 or 10 recurved teeth. Seeds numerous, roundish, 

 roughish, attached to the unconnected central column. 



Herbs, various in habit, mostly perennial ; either smooth, 

 viscid, or downy. Stem erect. Leaves opposite, simple, 

 undivided, entire. Fl. solitary or aggregate, terminal, 

 erect, red or white. Pet. in L. Viscaria scarcely divided ; 

 in the Lapland L. apetala abortive. Stam. and pist, se- 

 parated for the most part in L. dioica. 



\. L. Flos Cuculi. Meadow Lychnis. Ragged Robin. 



Petals in four linear segments. Capsule roundish, of one 

 cell. Stem rough with deflexed bristles. 



L. Flos Cuculi, Linn. Sp. PI. 625. Willd. v. 2. 807. Fl. Br. 493. 



Engl. Bot. r.8. t. 573. Curt. Lond.fasc. 1. t. 33. Hook. Scot. 



141. Fl.Dan.t.b^Q. 

 L. n. 921 , Hall. Hist. v. 1 . 399. 



L. plumaria sylvestris simplex. Park. Parad. 253. Raii Syn. 338. 

 Cuculi Flos. Trag. Hist. 403./. 



