116 CAEYOPHYLLE^. 



less viscid. Calyx gamosepalous, membranaceous, striate, 5-toothed. 

 Petals commonly with cleft limb and appendaged claw. Stamens 10. 

 Styles 5 or 4. Pod 1 -celled, opening by as many or twice as many teeth 

 as there are styles. 



1. L. Californica, Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. xii. 248 (1877). Perennial, 

 cespitose, 2 — 4 in. high, glandular-puberulent above : leaves linear to 

 linear-oblanceolate : ti. 1 — 3, on slender pedicels : calyx ovate-campann- 

 late, y^ ill- long or less : blade of petal obovate, bifid, each segment lobed 

 at the side : capsule short-stipitate, — A somewhat rare plant of the 

 high Sierra. 



4. SILENE, LobeUus (Catchfly). Habit of Lychnis, and flowers 

 about the same, often vespertine. Styles 3. Pod sometimes 3-celled at 

 base, at summit dehiscent by 3 or 6 teeth. 



* Annuals. 



1. S. antirrhina, Linn. Sp. PI. i. 419 (1753). Erect, slender, loosely 

 paniculate throughout, or more commonly simple below, glabrous, gland- 

 less except a viscid belt of an inch, more or less, in the middle of each 

 internode of the branches : leaves lanceolate, acute, 1 in. long : pedicels 

 erect : mature calyx oval, 3 lines long, the teeth short : petals red, the 

 blade emarginate a line long ; crown inconspicuous : seeds minutely 

 papillose. — Common enough, in sandy soil, both along the seaboard and 

 in the interior. The petals are very seldom seen, though perhaps never 

 wanting. Mar. Apr. 



2. S. Gallica, Linn. 1. c. 417. Slender, 1 ft. high, sparingly branched 

 or nearly simple, hirsute : leaves spatulate, 1 — l^o in. long : fl. racemose 

 on very short pedicels, rose-color : petals with obovate entire blade and 

 small appendages. One of the commonest weeds of fields and waysides ; 

 the small flowers usually forming a one-sided spike or raceme ; the petals 

 not withering so early in the day as in other species of the group. Mar. Jun. 



3. S. RACEMOSA, Otto, in DC. Prodr. i. 384 (1824). Stoutish, rather 

 roughly pubescent, l}^ — 2 ft. high, dichotomously racemose from near 

 the base : leaves lanceolate : fl. white, fragrant, ^o in. broad, unilateral : 

 blade of petal cuneate-obovate, deeply bifid.— Occasional in fields about 

 Berkeley ; flowers pure white, very fragrant, strictly vespertine ; plant 

 about twice as large as »S'. Gallica and quite showy. 



4. S. NOCTiFLORA, Linn. Sp. PI. i. 419 (1753). Stoutish, loosely dichoto- 

 mous, 1 3 ft. high, viscid-pubescent : lower leaves spatulate 3—4 in. 

 long, upper lanceolate : fl. few, peduncled : calyx more than 1 in. long, 

 the teeth subulate : corolla 1 in. broad ; petals bifid and appendaged. 

 Uncommon, but occasionally met with along railroads and by waysides 



