CARTOPHYLLACE.E. 67 



o 



catc at the base, acuminate at the apex, where tlierc are 5 Ion 

 subidate teeth, and with 10 very prominent herbaceous nerves ; in 

 fruit ovoid, contracted a little way above the base. Petals with the 

 laminae oblong-oblanceolate, deeply cleft into 2 strap-shaped lobes, 

 with 2 truncate toothed scales at the base ; claws auricled on each 

 side at the apex. Styles 3. Gynophore about one-sixth the length 

 of the capsule, and about half its greatest diameter. Capsule ovoid- 

 conical, opening by 6 spreading-recurved teeth. 



In fields, on sandy and gi*avelly soil. Rather rare. Principally 

 confined to the East side of the island, where it occurs from Sussex 

 to Forfarshire. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Annual. Summer. 



Stem erect, 1 to 2 feet high, generally dichotomously branched. 

 Leaves generally 3 or 4 inches long, the form changing gradually 

 as they are placed higher up on the stem ; lower stem-leaves some- 

 times indistinctly 3-nerved. Plowers f inch long by f inch across. 

 Calyx hairy and viscous, remarkably truncate at the base, with 

 very slender ciliated teeth half as long as the tube, and having the 

 points diverging before the flower opens ; nerves very broad, her- 

 baceous, upon a whitish membranous ground, frequently giving off 

 a few anastomosing veins. At maturity the calyx becomes very 

 broadly ovoid, suddenly bulging out a .little way above the base 

 where the junction of the capsule and gynophore takes place. Petals 

 white, tinged with rose within and with yellow on the outside, 

 rolled inwards during the day, spreading and fragrant at night. 

 Capsule f to 1 inch long, frequently (but not always) rujituring the 

 calyx, the teeth of wliich surpass it. Seeds globose-reniform, with 

 the angles rounded ofi' on the back, covered with small tubercles. 

 Plant dull green, soft and downy ; the upper part of the stem and 

 calices extremely sticky. 



Night-flowering Catchflij. 



French, Silene Noctijlore. German, Gemeine LichlnclJce. 



SPECIES XL— S ILENE PRATENSIS. Godr. & Gren. ' 



Plate OCX. 



Lychnis dioica, Linn. Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Hclv. Vol. VI. Caryo-ph. Tab. CCCIV. 



Fig. 5125. 

 Melandrium pratense, Rolil, ed. i. p. 274. 

 M. vespertinum, Fries, Sum. Veg. Scand. p. 3G. 

 M. dioicum, Coss. Fl. de Paris, ed. i. p. 28. 



M. album, Garche, Fl. von Nord- unfl Mittel-Dcutscliland, ed. vi. p. QQ. 

 Lychnis pratensis, Spreiuj. Fl. Plal. p. 138. 

 L. vespertina, Sihth. et Avxt. Plur, 

 L. dioica, Flore albo, Sin. Eug. Bot. No. 1580. 



