138 



srLENE^. (pink family.) 



drical placenta. Capsule 1-seeded by abortion, nearly indehiscent, 

 membranous below, chartaceous above. Seeds ovoid, kidney-shaped. 

 Embryo curved or peripheral — Perennial shrubs, with prickly leaves 

 and white, sessile flowers. 



A. Tournefortii, Fenzl. 5 -^j somewhat scabrous ; branches 

 slender, simple or paniculate. Flowers clustered in sessile or short- 

 peduncled heads disposed in pairs in the upper axils, or terminal ; 

 bracts straight, as long as calyx ; calyx-teeth prickly ; limb linear- 

 cuneate, retuse, exserted — September — Mountains of northern Syria. 



5. OYPSOPHII.A, L. Gypsophila. 



Calyx top-shaped or campanulate, rarely cylindrical, membranous 

 between the 5 nerves. Petals 5, limb naked at base, claw usually not 

 bilamellate. Torus small. Capsule globular or ovate, rarely oblong, 

 deeply 4-valved. Seeds kidney-shaped, affixed by a marginal umbilicus. 

 Embryo peripheral — Herbs, rarely shrubs, difiering much in aspect. 



1. G. venusta, Fenzl. 21 -5, stems terete, thickened at nodes, 

 ending in a glabrous, hemispherical panicle. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate from a rounded base, .04 long, .007 broad at base, somewhat 

 8-nerved, rough-margined ; bracts herbaceous, 



with narrow margins. Pedicels capillary, 4-6- Fig. 65. 



times as long as calyx ; calyx .004 long, cam- 



panidate, with round-ovate teeth ; date somewliat 



exserted; limb pink, purple at base, obovate- 



cuneate, retuse, twice as long as calyx — May — 



Thickets ; Aleppo to Aintab, and northward. 



2. O. Kokejeka, Del. 11 Ruqueqah 

 Kuzdmali. BaraMlih. Sirr. .4 to .6, glabrous, 

 glaucescent, woody below ; stems slender, whitish, 

 dichotomously panicled from base. Leaves fleshy, 

 1-nerved, with papillose margins, the lower oJ)- 

 long-lanceolate, obtuse, the others linear-lanceolate, 

 acute, often channelled. Bracts linear, herbaceous; 



pedicels capillary, 4-6-times as long as calyx • , w. ^o .- 



-^ 1 '- 1 J /^Arv 1 J- -11 J. xi ' jeka,maguified 3 diameters. 



calyx campanulate, .002 long, divided to three- (j) petals, stamens, 



fourths its length into oblong, white-margined and pistil, magnified 3 dia- 



lobes ; petals pink to violet, " elliptical-oblong, ^^^^^^^ 



twice as long as calyx — March to May — Dry places ; Palmyra to 



Jerusalem, Moab, and southward to Arabia and Egypt. 



3. €r. liibanotica, Boisa. If .15 to .3, glaucous, woody at 

 base, stems numerous, slender, branching into oblong, sometimes 

 viscid panicles. Leaves fleshy, ligid, oblong -lenticular, .01 long, .003 

 broad, reticulate. Bracts oblong-lanceolate, scarious-margined ; pedi- 

 cels capillary, 3-4 times as long as calyx ; calyx campanulate, .003 

 long, acutely dentate from middle ; limb pink, shorter than calyx — 

 July to September — Rocks; Alpine Lebanon, Berytdagh and north- 

 ward. 



4. O. Aucheri, Boiss. If .6 to 1, green ; stems slender' 

 branching iato a glandular, rarely glabrous panicle. Leaves rigid', 

 tubercled, oblong to linear-lanceolate .03 to .05 long, .003 to .004 



(a ) Calyx or G* Roke- 



