124 SILENE^. (pink family.) 



Var. prulno§u§, Post. Indument pruinose — Lebanon ; Khan 

 Hhathrurah to Jericho. 



Var. siitoeiiervi§5 Boiss. Calyx-teeth almost destitute of 

 nerves — Lebanon. 



3. I>. poIycladu§, Boiss. If .2 to .5, glabrous, or velvety 

 below; stems numerous, slender, dichotomous, with stiff, slender, elon- 

 gated branches. Leaves stiff, scabrous, those of branches short, narrow, 

 scale-like. Flowers terminal, solitary, .01 broad ; scales scarious, 

 ovate, mucronate ; calyx .006 to .01 long ; limb pale pink, ohlong- 

 linear, eiitire or retuse — Summer — Lebanon and Hermon to Amanus 

 and Akherdagh, to 1500 m. 



Var. difiru§a, Post. Stems prostrate or ascending, .15 to .2 — 

 Alpine Lebanon. 



§ 2. lilElIOPETAIil. 



4. I>, palleii§, Sibth. !{; .3 to .4, glabrescent, glaucescent. 

 Stems erect, simple, more or less paniculate-corymbose. Leaves 

 linear, with scabrous margins, sheaths short, knotted. Flowers .03 

 broad, without bracts, or subtended by the upper pair of leaves ; 

 scales ovate, acute, taperi7ig or mucronate; calyx .015 to .02 long, some- 

 what tapering at apex^; teeth oblong-lanceolate ; limb obovate-cuneate, 

 crenate or dentate — May and June — Dry hillsides ; Antilebanon to 

 Amanus and northward. 



Var. oxylepis, Boiss. Glaucous. Scales acuminate, the outer 

 often lanceolate iGifh spreading cusp, sometimes only 2 — Ccelesyria 

 and Antilebanon to Palmyra, Aleppo, and nothward and eastward. 



5. I>. J"iiclalcii§, Boiss. If .2 to ,3 glaucous, papillose-sca- 

 hrous, tufted; stems generally 1-flowered. Leaves linear, acute, recur- 

 ved, plicate-keeled, with membranous margin. Flowers .02 broad, some- 

 what remote from upper leaves ; scales glabrous, oblong, somewhat 

 spreadAng at apex, tayering abruptly into a green, acute, ascending cusp; 

 calyx thrice as long as scales, .025 long ; teeth lanceolate, acute ; limb 

 oblong, nearly entire — May — Hot hillsides around Dead Sea. 



6. ©. AMraiiiticM§, Post. (Trans. Linnean Soc, Lond., 1888,- 

 p. 426) % .3, glabrous, glaucescent ; stems sparingly branched. 

 Leaves linear, plicate, narroidy scarious-margined, the lower imbricated, 

 dilated at base. Flowers solitary ; scales .01 to .013 long, oblong- 

 lanceolate, membranous-margined, abruptly taj)ering into an ascend- 

 ing or spji^eading cusp, half as long as calyx tube ; calyx .02 to ;03 long, 

 with triangular-lanceolate, mucronate teeth ; limb obovate-spathulate, 

 sparingly dentate — May and June — Fields ; between Lbid and 

 Bosrah, Hauran. Further study required to establish the differences 

 between D. pallens, var. oxylepis, Boiss, D. Judaicus, and this 

 species. 



T. D. lactiflorus, Fenzl. If. 3 to .5, glabrous, woody at base, 

 with many, simple or sparingly branched, 3-5-flowered stems. Leaves 

 linear, scabrous at margin, the lower .06 to .1 long. Flowers .02 broad; 

 scales 4, a])pressed, about one-third as long as calyx-tube, ovate-elliptical, 

 membranous-margined, tapering into a short cusp or mucro ; calyx 



