CLASS X. ORDER III. J SILENE. 627 



Stems elongated. Flowers axillary, spicate, alternate. Calyx 

 with ten stria. 



6. S. Angli'ca, Linn. (Fig. 712.) English Catehfiy. Hairy and 

 viscid ; stem branched ; leaves lanceolate, acute ; calyx ovate, with 

 ten stria, the teeth subulate; petals small, obcordate, with a bifid 

 crown at the base. 



English Botany, t. 1178.— English Flora, vol. ii. p. 291.— Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 205. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 45. 



Root small, fibrous. Stem branched or simple, varying greatly in 

 luxuriance, from a few inches to near two feet high, round, leafy, 

 swollen at the joints, and clothed more or less thickly, like the rest of 

 the plant, with viscid hairs. Leaves opposite, sessile, lanceolate, the 

 lower ones someimes approaching, spathulate, single ribbed, entire, 

 somewhat succulent, and from one to two inches long. Inflorescence 

 terminal, leafy, lax spikes, of numerous Jlotvers, one, sometimes two, 

 from the axis of the leaves, erect in flower, the lower ones often 

 spreading, or reflexed when in fruit. Calyx at first narrow cylindrical, 

 becoming when in fruit ovate, marked with ten green ribs, terminating 

 in rather long awl shaped teeth, pale, thin and membranous between, 

 clothed with viscid pubescence, intermixed with stout hairs. Petals 

 small, the limb inversely heart-shaped, white, sometimes marked with 

 reddish spots about the middle, tapering into a claw, and crowned with 

 a scale of two acute teeth. Stamens with unequal awl-shaped^/a- 

 ments and small anthers. Styles three, rather short, downy. Capsule 

 ovate, smooth, longer than the tube of the calyx, and closely invested 

 with it. Seeds numerous, small, dark brown, kidney-shaped, elegantly 

 marked with smooth transverse lines. 



Habitat. — Sandy and gravelly fields. In Surrey, Cambridgeshire, 

 Hertfordshire, Norfolk, South Port, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, 

 Cornwall, and North Wales. Between Dundee and St. Andrew's, 

 and near Perth, Scotland. Near Castletown, Bearhaven — Mr. J. 

 Drummond ; and Benone, County of Derry, Ireland — Mr. D. Moore. 



Annual ; flowering in June and July. 



When the petals are marked with red spots, this species has much 

 resemblance to the following S. quinquevulnera, with which it is 

 united by Koch, who considers them both varieties of S. Gallica, Linn. 

 a species frequent on the Continent. 



7. S. quinquevul'nera, Linn. (Fig. 713.) Variegated Catchfly. 

 Hairy and viscid ; stem branched ; leaves lanceolate, the lower ones 

 obtuse ; calyx ovate, with ten stria, the teeth subulate ; petals small, 

 roundish, entire or crenated, with a bifid crown at the base. 



English Botany, t. 86.— English Flora, vol. ii. p. 292. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 205.— Lindley, Synopsis, p. 45. 



Similar to S. Anglica in every respect, with the exception of the 

 petals having a roundish entire or crenated margin, which is a cha- 

 racter by no means constant in those of S. Anglica^ for they are not 



