128 



SILENEJS. (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 -^^ 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, afiixed by a marginal umbilicus. 

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



1. Cf. veiiiista, Fenzl. 11 .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 

 3-nerved, rough-margined ; bracts herbaceous, 



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



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

 panulate, with round-ovate teetli ; claio somewliat 

 exserted; limb pink, purple at base, obovate- 

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

 Thickets ; Aleppo to Aintab, and northward, 



2. O. Rokejeka, Del. 1|; Ruqueqah 

 KuzdnutTi. BaraMliJi. Sir?: .4 to .6, glabrous, 

 glaucescent, woody below ; stems slender, whitish, 

 dichotomously panicled from base. Leaves fleshy, 

 1-nerved, with papillose margins, the lower oh- 

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

 acute, often channelled. Bracts linear, herljaceous ; 

 pedicels cai)illary, 4-6-times as long as calyx i . , ^'^ ^ ^^'^^ o^^' ^^^^' 



^ , ^14. AAn 1 T • 1 T i. ii ' jeka,nuigmfied 3 diameters. 



calyx campanulate, .003 long, divided to three- (/!.) 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 Eg3"pt. 



3. O. liibanotica, Boisa. 2]! .15 to .3, glaucous, woody at 

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

 viscid panicles. Leaves fleshy, rigid, 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 i:)ink, shorter than calyx — 

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

 ward. 



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

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

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



