PINK FAMILY. ' 65 



* * Flowers sinrjle at the ends of the branches : leai^es narrow and often grass-like, 

 rather rigid, glabrous and glaucous, usually loithout any evident veins. 



D. Chinensis, China or Ixdian Pink, lias lanceolate leaves, less rigid 

 and greener than any of the following, and linear acute scales or bracts a.5 long 

 as the calyx ; the large petals toothed or cut, of various colors, red, ])uvplc, 

 violet, &c. The garden var. Heddewigii is a more glaucous and large-flowered 

 form, lately introduced. @ @ 



D. Caryophj^llus, Clove Pink, the parent of all the sorts of Carna- 

 tion, &c , has the stems almost woody below, very glaucous long-linear leiacs; 

 the scales under the calyx very short and broad ; petals merely toothed, of 

 various colors. Scarcely hardy N. '21 



D. plumai'ius, Pheasant's-eye or Plumed Pink. A low, hardy sp(j.- 

 cies, making broad tufts, with small very glaucous leaves, sending up flower- 

 stems in early summer, the white or pink or variegated petals cut into a fringe 

 of slender lobes. 2/ 



D. SUperbus, is taller, less tufted, and later-flowered ; the large petals 

 entirely dissected into delicate almost capillary divisions. 2/. 



2. LYCHNIS. (Greek name for tamp, the down of the Mullein Lychnis 

 having been used for wicking. ) All from the Old World : fl. summer. 



§ 1 . Calyv with long leaf-like lobes : petals naked. ® 

 L. GithagO, Corn-Cockle. A weed in grain-fields, hairy, with long 

 linear leaves, and long-peduncled showy red-purple flowers ; in fruit the calyx- 

 lobes falling ort"; the black seeds injurious to the grain. 



§ 2. Valiji- without long leaf-like lobes : petals crowned with a 2-cleJl little scale or 

 pair of teeth on the base of the blade or at the top of the claw. 21 



L. COronai'ia, Mullein-Lychnis or Mullein Pink. Cult, in gar- 

 dens ; the flower crimson and like that of Corn-Cockle ; but teeth of the 

 calyx short and slender ; plant white-cottony ; leaves oval or oblong. @ 21 



L. Flos-Jovis, Jupiter's L. Less common in gardens, downy-hairy or 

 cottony and whitish ; leaves lance-oblong ; flowers many and smaller, in a 

 head-like long-peduncled cluster, reddish-purple ; petals obcordate. 



L. Chalcedonica, Maltese-Cross or Scarlet L. Very common in 

 country-gardens ; tall, rather hairy and coarse, with lance-ovate partly clasping 

 green leaves, and a very dense flat-tojjped cluster of many smallish flowers ; the 

 bright scarlet or l)rick-red petals deeply 2-lobed. 



L. grandifl6ra, Large-flowered L. Cult, from China; smooth, with 

 oblong green leaves tapering to both ends, and the branches bearing single or 

 scattered short-peduncled flowers, which are 2' or 3' across ;. the red or scarlet 

 petals fringe-toothed at the end. 



L. Visckria, Viscid L. Rather scarce in gardens ; smooth, but the slen- 

 der stem glutinous towards the top ; leaves linear ; flowers many in a narrow 

 raceme-like cluster, rather small ; calyx tubular or club-shaped ; petals pink- 

 red, slightly notched : also a double-flowered variety. 



L. i'los-euculi, Cuckoo L. Ragged Robin is the double-flowered 

 variety, in gardens ; slightly downy and glutinous, with lanceolate leaves, and 

 an open panicle of pink-red petals, these cleft into 4 narrow -linear lobes. 



L. dilil'na, Day-blooming L. Double-flowered form also called Ragged 

 Robin in the gardens ; smoothish or soft-hairy ; leaves ol)long or lance-ovate, 

 the npjier ones pointed ; flowers scattered or somewhat clustered on the 

 branches, rose-red. ' 



L. vespertina, Evening-blooming L. A weed in some waste grounds, 

 like the last, and more like the Night-flowering Catchfly ; but has 5 styles and 

 a more ovate enlarging calyx ; the flowers are commonly dioecious, white, and 

 open after sunset, the root biennial. But a full double-flowering variety in gar- 

 dens is perennial, day-flowering, and is a white sort of Ragged Robin. 



3. SILENE, CATCHFLY. (Both names refer to the sticky exudation on 

 stems and calyx of several species, by which small insects arc often caught. ) 

 Besides the following, some other wild or cultivated species are met with, but 

 not common. Fl. mostly all summer. 



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