670 AGROSTEMMA. [CLASS X. ORDER IV. 



admitted into our Flora. It is found in various parts of Portugal, but 

 even there it is by no means common. 



GENUS XXIII. AGROSTEM'MA.— Linn. Cockle, 



Nat. Ord. CARYOPHVL'LEiE. Juss, 



Gen. Char. Calyx of one piece, tubular, coriaceous, with five 

 foliaceous segments. Petals five clawed. Capsule of one cell, 

 opening with five teeth at the apex. — Name from ay^ov crrsu.fji.oc, 

 Crown of the Field ; so called from the great beauty of the flowers 

 growing amongst the corn. 



1. A. Githa^go, Linn. (Fig. 765.) Corn Cockle. Calyx with leafy 

 segments, longer than the corolla; petals notched, without a crown. 



English Botany, t. 741. — English Flora, vol. ii. p. 325. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 214. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 47. — Lychnis 

 Githago, De Cand. 



Boot tapering. The whole plant clothed with stout hairs, pointed 

 upwards. Stem erect, branched, roundish, from three to four feet 

 high. Leaves linear, lanceolate, opposite, sessile, and united at the 

 base, palish green, with a prominent mid-rib on the under side, and 

 two slender lateral veins. Flowers solitary, terminating the branches, 

 large, a beautiful purple colour, with radiant darker dotted lines. 

 Calyx tubular, with stout prominent ribs, the limb of five mostly 

 equal linear lanceolate leafy segments, hoary, with erect pale hairs. 

 Corolla of five heart-shaped petals, tapering into a long slender claw, 

 and without a crown at the base, shorter than the calyx segments. 

 Stamens with slender awl-shaped Jilaments^ five shorter than the 

 others. Anthers oblong, purple, of two cells, deeply divided at the 

 base. Styles long, slender, hairy. Capsule enveloped in the per- 

 sistent calyx, oblong, of one cell, with five valves. Seeds numerous, 

 rather large, rough, and attached to the central receptacle. 



Habitat. — Corn fields, frequent ; often a troublesome, though beau- 

 tiful weed. 



Annual ; flowering in June and July. 



This is one of our most beautiful wild flowers, growing in many 

 parts of the country in too great abundance, especially in corn fields, 

 and more particularly amongst wheat, It is nearly allied to the fol- 

 lowing genus Lychnis^ from which it is principally distinguished by 

 its stout ribbed calyx, with its long linear lanceolate leafy segments, 

 and by the petals being undivided, and not crowned at the throat with 

 scales. 



