140 



SILENE^. (PINK FAMILY.) 



§ 6. ATOCIE^. 



24. S. rubella, L. ,3 to .5, imlerulent, glavxescent; stems 

 unequally dichotomous. Leaves obovate-spa- 

 thulate to linear, obtuse. Peduncles of alar flowers Fig. 70. 



rather long, of the more or less cymose^ terminal 

 ones short ; caljx membranous, oblong, in fruit 

 top-slin2jed, teeth rounded, obtuse, ciliate ; limb 

 pink, obovate-cuneate, retuse ; capsule ovate, 

 2-3 times as long as carpophore — Spiing — 

 Huleh ; Hauran ; Damascus. 



25. S. §cdoides, Jacq. © ,2 to .3, t'is^^- 

 Mrsute, branching from base, dichotomous. 

 Leaves fleshy, oblong-spathulate to oblong. 

 Flowers axillary, racemose oJjove ; lower peduncles 

 longer than calyx, all nodding after fiovcering^ ; 

 calyx .007 long, oblong from umbilicate base, in 

 fruit club-shaped, teeth short, obtuse ; limb 

 small, obovate, retuse ; capsule membranous, 

 oblong as long as calyx, four times as long as carpophore 

 Sands ; along coast. 



Cymes of S. rubella. 



Spring 



26. S, fuscata, Link. © .3 to .8, viscid -jnilescent ; stems erect. 

 Leaves oNo7ig to oUong -lanceolate. Alar peduncles much longer than 

 calyx, terminal short, cymose ; calyx oblong-obconical from umlali- 

 cate base, in fruit club-shaped, teeth ovate, obtuse ; liml) pink, 

 cuneate-obovate, entire ; capsule ovate, alout as long as carpophore — 

 Spring — Fields ; along coast. 



27. S. Atociou, Murr. © .2 to .3, crisp)-p)uberident ; stems 

 ascending, dichotomous. Leaves ova^g, the lower toith margined pjetioles, 

 obtuse, the upper sessile, acute. Alar flowers short, peduncled, ter- 

 minal nearly sessile, cymose ; calyx red, obsoletely nerved, cylindrical 

 from umbilicate base, in fruit club-shaped, teeth membranous-margined, 

 ovate, obtuse ; limb pink, l/iloied, with a tooth on each side at iase; cap- 

 sule oblong, some^dtat shorter than carpophore — Spring — Fields ; 

 throughout to 1500 m. The commonest and most showy of all the 

 species in our district, often covering a large space with its pretty, 

 .02 broad flowers. 



§ 7. RIGIDUL^. 



28. S. Kotscliyi, Boiss. © .1 to .3, piruinose-viscid ; stem slen- 

 der, branches filiform. Leaves plicate, lioear-awl-shaped, mucronate, 

 ciliate at base. Peduncles long, filiform ; calyx with prominent red 

 7? e7T6S, cylindrical from a tapering, umbilicate base, in fruit club-shaped, 

 teeth ciliate, lanceolate , acuminate ; limb pink, cuneate, bifid ; lol>es 

 of crown rounded ; capsule ovate, somewhat exserted from calyx, and 

 longer than carpophore — Summer — Sandy places; middle zone of 

 Lebanon and Antilebanon, Coelesyria, Aintab, Marash, and northward 

 and eastward. 



Var. striata. Glabrous-viscid. Calyx striate between nerves. 

 Lobes of crown lanceolate, acute — Lebanon ; Coelesyiia. {S. striata, 

 Ear). 



