Silene. CARYOPHYLLACEiE. 217 



of cauline leaves much shorter, lanceolate or narrowly oblong, acute : cymes small, terminal, 

 dense, rarely more open : calyx clavate, purplish ; the teeth short : petals rose-colored or 

 white, appendaged ; blades obovate, erose, 4 to 6 lines in length : ovary loug-stiped. — 

 n. i. 272; Liudl. Eot. Keg. t. 247; Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. i. 90; Gray, Gen. 111. ii. 42, t. 115. 

 S. cheiranthoides, Voir. Diet. vii. 176. S. incarnata, JMdd. Bot. Cab. t. 41. *S. platypetala, 

 Otth in DC. Prodr. i. 38.3. Melandryum Pennsylvanicum, Rohrb. 1. c. 233, & Liunaea, xxxvi. 

 251. S. Carol iniana, Walt. Car. 142, with scarlet or crimson petals, and S. rubicunda, Dietr. 

 Allg. Garteuzeit. iii. 196, with divided petals, are probable synonyms. Dr. Britton main- 

 tains (Bull. Torr. Club, xviii. 268) that the former species, which antedates that of 

 Michaux, was founded upon a plant in herb. Walter labelled " Silene an Virginica." 

 Walter's species, however, as the description shows, was based upon two somewhat differing 

 plants, and there is no proof from the labelling that the plant in question represents either 

 of them. — Open rocky woods, E. New England to S. Carolina and Kentucky; fl. April, 

 May. Flowers with 5 carpels are occasionally found (ace. to J. Schrenk) as in some other 

 species of the genus. 



= = Flowers crimson or scarlet, large. 

 a. Petals 2-4-toothed. 



S. Virginica, L. (Fire Pink, Catchfly.) Viscid-pubescent: stem striate, single, simple, 

 1 to 2 feet high : leaves spatulate or oblanceolate ; the lower ones narrowed to ciliate- 

 fringed petioles ; the upper lanceolate, sessile : flowers very large, an inch or more in 

 diameter, loosely cymose, commonly nodding or reflexed after anthesis : calyx clavate or 

 oblong, 8 lines in length, becoming obovate in fruit ; petals crimson ; blades broadly 

 lanceolate, 2(rarely 4)-toothed at the apex. — Spec. i. 419, in part, not Willd. ; Hook. Bot. 

 Mag. t. 3342; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 192 ; Chapm. Fl. 51 ; Meehan, 1. c. 17, t. 5. S. Catesbcei, 

 Walt. Car. 142. S. coccinea, Moench, Meth. Suppl. 306. — Common in open woods, on rocky 

 hills, W. New York, S. W. Ontario (ace. to Macoun) to Minnesota (ace. to Upham), south- 

 ward to Georgia and Arkansas. 



S. rotundifolia, Nutt. (Round-leaved Catchflt.) Viscid-pubescent: stems weak, 

 decumbent, branched : leaves rather large, varying from broadly lanceolate to subrotund, 

 rather abruptly pointed ; the lower ones contracted at the base to winged petioles : flowers 

 large, showy, scattered or in loose cymes : calyx tubular, 10 to 13 lines in length, abrupt at 

 the base, becoming clavate but not obovate in fruit : petals bright scarlet ; blades 8 lines 

 in length, deeply bifid ; lobes more or less toothed : seeds smaller, smoother, and darker 

 colored than in the preceding — Gen. i. 288; Otth, 1. c. 383; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 192. 

 Melandryum rotundifotium, Rohrb. Monogr. Sil. 234, & Linntea, xxxvi. 257 ; Wats. Bot. 

 King Exp. 431. — S. Ohio (abundant at Ash Cave, Hocking Co., ace. to Selby), Kentucky, 

 Tennessee, and (ace. to Chapman) Alabama ; rather local ; fl. June to August. 



b. Petals entire or nearly so. 



S. regia, Sims. (Royal Catchfly.) Viscid-glandular above, finely pulverulent-pubescent 

 below : stems tall, erect, rather rigid, simple or sparingly branched, leafy : leaves ovate, 

 acuminate, 3 - 7-nerved from the rounded sessile base; the lowest more or less contracted 

 below: flowers showy, in a narrow oblong panicle: calyx cylindrical, 10 to 12 lines long, 

 becoming somewhat spindle-shaped in fruit : petals spatulate-lanceolate, subentire, scarlet. 

 — Bot. Mag. t. 1724; Sweet, Brit. Fl. Gard, n. ser. t. 313 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 193. S. Vir- 

 ginica, form, Michx. Fl. i. 272. " S. Illinoensis (Mx.)," Kellerman, Geol. Ohio, vii. pt. 2, 

 178, careless synonym, as Michaux employs the word Illinoensis merely in giving the distri- 

 bution. Melandryum regium, A. Br. Flora, 1843, 372. M. Illinoense, Rohrb. Linna;a, xxxvi. 

 250. — Prairies, Ohio to Georgia (ace. to Chapman) and westward to Missouri, Arkansas, 

 and N. W. Indian Terr., Blanlcinship ; fl. June to August. 



S. subciliata, Robinson. Stem strict, erect, glabrous: leaves narrowly linear-oblong, 

 slightly fleshy, glabrous on the surfaces but sparingly ciliated on the margin, 1| to 2 inches 

 long, obtusely pointed with callous tips and narrowed below to short winged and ciliated 

 petioles : inflorescence slender, elongated, racemiform ; the lower flowers distant : calj^x 

 glabrous, cylindric, 10 lines in length : petals with elliptic entire obtu.se blades and lanceolate 

 entire appendages. — Proc. Am. Acad. xxix. 327. — " Texas and Louisiana," Wright. A 

 distinct species, but never rediscovered and hence poorly known. 



