S I L 



S I L 



They are sometimes raised from slit-layers 

 and cuttings in the summer season; but they are 

 tedious in forming roots in this way, and the 

 plants are not so good. 



The first is tender, affording variety in the 

 stove ; but the last is more hardy, and may 



foot and half long, which trail upon the ground, 

 opposite: the leaves oval, acute-pointed : the 

 flowers come out singly from the axils, upon 

 shori peduncles ; they are huge, and ot a bright 

 red colour, resembling these of the common 

 Wild Red Campion. It is a native of Sicily and 



sometimes be introduced in the shrubbery borders Crete or Candia, flowering in May and June, 

 in warm sheltered situations. The fourth species has a biennial root : the 



SILENE, a genus containing plants of the stalk round, clammy, a foot and half high, 



hardy herbaceous, of the annual and perennial having swelling joints : the leave 



kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Decandrla 

 Trigynia, and ranks in the natural oider of 

 Caryophyllei. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianth, ventricose, five-toothed, per- 

 manent : the corolla has five petals: claws nar- 

 row, length of the calyx, margined : border flat, 

 obtuse, often bifid : nectary composed of two 

 toothlets in the neck of each petal, forming a 

 crown at the throat : the stamina have ten awl- 



smooth, growing round the stalk in clusters : 

 the upper part of the stalk divides into spread- 

 ing branches by pairs, and has red flowers 

 coming out singly from the axils, and sessile : 

 the plant is extremely viscid. It is a native of 

 the South of France, &c. 



The fifth has a biennial root : the lower leaves 

 roundish and hollowed like a spoon : those up- 

 on the stalks obtuse, and standing by pairs, 

 threes or fours round the stalks; they arc deep 

 green, smooth and sessile : the stalks round, 



shaped filaments, alternately inserted into the smooth, from two to three feet high : the 

 claws of the petals, and later than the other flowers in loose spikes at the top, of a green 



five: anthers oblong : the pistillum is a cylin- 

 drical germ : stvles three, simple, longer than 

 the stamens: stigmas bent contrary to the sun's 

 apparent motion : the periearpium is a cylindri- 

 cal capsule, covered, one- or three-celled, opening 

 at top into five or six parts: the seeds very 

 many, kidney-form. 



The species cultivated are: 1. S. armeria, 

 Common or Lobel's Catchfly ; 2. S. quinque- 

 vulnera, Variegated Catchfly ; 3. S. pendula, 



colour. It is a native of Spain, &c. flowering 

 in June and July. 



The sixth species has a somewhat woody per- 

 ennial root : the stems several, simple, (ac- 

 cording to Mr. Woodward frequently branched 

 from the root,) a foot or more in height, erect, 

 leafy, round, pubescent, jointed at the base, 

 viscid in the upper part, terminating in a forked 

 panicle, the summit and branches of which 

 all droop towards one side : the leaves Ian- 



Pendulous Catchfly; 4. S. muscipula, Spanish ceolate acute, quite entire, pubescent on both 



Catchfly; 5. S. viridijhiru, Green-flowered sides, of a palish green; the radical ones 



Catchfly; 6. S.mduns, Nottingham Catchfly; inclining to obovate, and forming thick tufts : 



J. S.fruticosa, Shrubby Catchfly. the flowers drooping, white, of a delicate lex- 



The first is an annual plant w ; ith erect stalks,- ture. It is a native of several parts of Europe, 



a foot and half high, for more than an inch be- flowering in June and July. 



tow each joint very glutinous : the lower leaves 

 broad, oblong, smooth, sessile : the flowers in 

 terminating bunches, standing erect, and form- 

 ing a kind of umbel. It is a native of Denmark, 

 Sec. flowering in July and August. 



There are varieties with a bright purple 

 flower, with a pale red, and with a white flower. 



In the second, from a small fibrous annual 



The seventh has the stem low, shrubby, di- 

 viding into several short branches : the leaves 

 smooth, ending in acute points : the flower- 

 stalks rise about a foot high, and divide into 

 spreading panicles, sustaining two and three 

 flowers, of an herbaceous white colour. It is 

 a native of Sicily, flowering in June and July. 



Culture. — The annual and biennial sorts may 



root arise several flaccid spreading stems, round, be raised by seeds, which should be sown in the 

 hairy, and a little viscid ; as are also the leaves 

 in a slight degree : numerous flowers spring in 

 an alternate order from the bosoms of die upper 

 leaves, on pedicels which are erect, or but little 

 divaricated even when the fruit is ripe: the pe- 

 tals are remarkable for the deep red spot in their 

 centre, like a drop of blood. It is a native of 

 the South of Europe. 



The third is an annual plant, from whose 

 toot come out several branching stalks, near a 



spring or autumn seasons, where the plants are 

 to grow ; but the latter is the better time. Some 

 sow at both seasons, which may be a good prac- 

 tice. The seed should be put in in patches in 

 the borders, clumps, Sec. : when the plants are 

 up they should be thinned to two or three 

 plants in each clump, and be kept clean from 

 weeds. With the biennial sorts it is sometimes 

 the practice to sow them in beds, and when the 

 plants are up to remove them into nursery-rows 



