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SILENE RIGIDA Banks & Sol. 

 By Peedeeic N. Williams, F.L.S. 



SiLENE EIGIDA Banks & Solander in P. Eussell's Natural 

 History of Aleppo, ed. 2, ii. p. 252 (1794) : the short description 

 is : — " PetaHs integris, tioribus fastigiatis, foliis lanceolatis obtu- 

 siuscuHs subtrinerviis villosis." 



This is not sufficient to determine the position of the plant 

 in the genus Silene. Fortunately, the specimen to which the 

 description refers is in good state ; and the capsules contain 

 seeds, the structure of the seeds being an important character. 

 With the help of the restricted material available the original 

 description can be expanded, and the systematic position of the 

 plant determined. 



Examination shows that the specimen belongs to the sub- 

 genus Eusilene, sect. ii. Dichasiosilene (B. species annuae), 

 series 11. LasiocalycincR, in my revision of the genus in Journ. 

 Linn. Soc. (Bot.) xxxii. 1-198 (1896). The species in this series 

 are grouped under two heads : — 



a. Petala Integra vel emarginata. 



h. Petala bifida vel bipartita. 



It is certainly to the first of these two groups that the Aleppo 

 plant belongs. The following description of the plant is so drawn 

 up as to omit the sectional and serial characters: — 



Caulis 15-28 ctim., erectus superne vel e basi divaricatim 

 ramosus, breviter denseque scabrido-puberulus. Folia inferiora 

 25 mm., oblongo-spathulata, superiora 22 mm., lanceolata obtu- 

 siuscula subtrinervia villoso-scabrida. Flores subfastigiati, sub- 

 sessiles ; bractese lineares. Calyx coriaceus cylindricus, fructifer 

 (14 mm.) clavatus infra capsulam constrictus, nervis scabro- 

 echinulatis, dentibus ovatis rotundis late albo-marginatis ciliatis. 

 Petala Integra rosea oblongo-cuneata, appendicibus binis acutis. 

 Capsula ovata, carpophore crasso duplo longior. Semina dorso 

 lato obtuse leviterque canaliculata seriatim tuberculata, facie- 

 bus curvato-excavata concentrice tuberculata (tuberculis parum 

 majoribus). 



This agrees very closely with the description of S. gonocalyx 

 Boiss. ; and the specimen matches Kotschy's PI. exs. Aleppenses, 

 1841, n. 113, collected near Aleppo. This belongs to the species 

 described by Boissier, and was issued under the name of " Silene 

 echinata" ; but it is not the European plant of that name, which 

 is confined to Italy. 



S. gonocalyx Boiss. and S. crassipes Fenzl. are closely allied, 

 if not forms of the same species. In fact, in the Supplement to 

 Fl. Orientalis, p. 92 (1888), Boissier has added a note : — " Est 

 tantum forma S. crassipecUs floribus terminalibus confertis, peta- 

 lorum lamina latiore rotundata nee retusa." And this well applies 

 to the specimen and to the brief description of Silene ricjicla. 



