L Y C 



LYC 



nate-multifid : the filaments the length of the 

 tube of the corolla, filiform : the germ superior: 

 style* five, much shorter than the tube of the 



corolla. It is a native of China ami Japan, 

 flowering in June and July- 



The fourth specie? has long, narrow, 

 like have-, which come out from the root with- 

 out order, sitting close to the ground ; between 

 these come up straight single sulks, which in 

 good eround rise a foot and half high ; at each 

 joint of the stalk come out two leaves opposite, 

 of the same form as the lower, hut decreasing 

 in their size upwards; under each pair ol I 

 for an inch in length, there sweats out of the 

 stalk a glutinous liquor, which is almost as 

 clammy as birdlime, so that ants and other in- 

 sects which happen to light upon these place-, 

 or attempt to creep up to the Bowers, are fasten- 

 ed to the stalk ; whence the title of Catchfly : the 

 root is perennial, yellowish on the outside, white 

 within: the stem round, not grooved, smooth, 

 beinsr terminated by a cluster of purple flowers, 

 and from the two upper joints come out on each 

 side of the stalk a cluster of the same flowers, 

 so that the whole forms a sort of loose spike : 

 these appear in the beginning of May, and the 

 sinele flowers are succeeded by roundish sccd- 

 vessels, which are full of small angular seeds, 

 ripening in July. It is a native of most parts 

 of Europe. 



The fifth has likewise a perennial root, the 

 thickness of the little finger, white, of a slight - 

 lv acrid and bitter taste, furnished with nume- 

 rous fibres: the stalks are several, upright, from 

 one to three feet high, round, hirsute, jointed, 



Eurple, the joints swelled : the uppermost 

 ranches forked : the leave- opposite, connate, 

 ovate-acuminate, hirsute, slightly nerved : the 

 calyx is hairy, striated, purple, five-toothed ; in 

 the female more turgid : the petals purple, ob- 

 cordate : at the bottom of the lamina or broad 

 spreading part are two or four small upright 

 white blunt appendicles: the germ is ovate, sur- 

 rounded bv a nectary at the base : the capsule 

 one-celled, with ten teeth at the mouth: seeds 

 gray, somewhat rugged. It is a native of many- 

 parts of Europe. 



There is a variety with double flowers, culti- 

 vated in gardens by the name of Red Bachelor's 

 Buttons, which is an ornamental plant, and 

 continue- long in flower. 



The sixth species ha< the stalks branched out 

 much more than in the fifth sort, being w 

 and more flaccid : the leaves are longer and 

 more veined: the flowers Bland singlv upon 

 pretty long peduncles, and are not produced in 

 clusters as in that ; it is very hairy, the calyx is 

 ttpte swollen, and it flowers a month alter it. 



And Dr. Withering remark-, that the petals on 

 the male plant have the laminae divided down 

 to the claws, but in the female ihty are only 

 cloven half way down. Dr. John Sibthorp also 

 states that the capsules in the fifth are roundi 

 and that its scentless flowers stand open through 

 the day ; while this has conical capsules, and us 

 odoriferous flowers open only towards evening. 

 This also prefers a dry soil, while that spreads 

 in a moist one. It is common in Siberia. 



There are varieties with put pie or blush-co- 

 loured flowers ; with quadrifid petal- ; with 1. 

 maphrodite flower- ; w uh double flowers, i 

 tivated in gardens by the name of Double White- 

 Bachelor's Buttons. 



Culture. — They may be increased with facility 

 in the single sorts by seed, and parting the roots; 

 and in the double- by dividing or slipping the 

 roots, ami sometimes by cuttings of their stalks. 

 The seed should be sown in the early spring, 

 as in March, in a bed or border of light earth, 

 in an eastern aspect, each sort separate, raking 

 them in lightly, or they may be sown in small 

 drills. The plants come up in two or three 

 weeks, when they should have occasional wa- 

 terlogs and hand w eedings : and when the plants 

 are two or three inches high, be planted out in 

 beds or borders, in rows six inches asunder, 

 watering them till fresh rooted, letting them re- 

 main till the autumn or following spring, when 

 thev should be transplanted where they are to 

 remain. 



Both the single and double may be Increased 

 bv slipping the roots ; but it is more particularly 

 applicable to the double sort, as they cannol 

 with certainty be obtained from seed: the sea- 

 son for performing this work is the autumn, 

 after the stalks decay, when the whole root may 

 either be taken up, and divided into as many 

 slips as are furnished with proper root-fibres, or 

 the main root stand, and as many of the outi r 

 offsets as seem convenient be slipped ofl : these 

 slips, when strong, should be planted at omv 

 where thev are to remain; but when rather 

 small and weak, it is better to plant them in 

 mnserv-rows, half a foot asunder, to remain a 

 year, and then transplant them for good where 

 thev are to stand. 



The planting of cuttings of the stalks is 

 mostly practised tor the double scarlet sort, 

 when it increase- but sparingly bv offsets of the 

 root. It is performed in summer, when the 

 stalks are well advanced in growth, hut before 

 they flower, or have become hard and woody. 

 Some of them should be cut off doM lo the 

 bottom, and divided into lengths of from three 

 to five joints, planting them in an easterly bor- 

 der of rich moist loamy earth, two-think 



