SILENIL3E. (PmS FAMILY.) 



139 



lanceolate, obtuse or acutisb. Racemes .1 to .3 long, stiff ; peduncles 

 shorter than calyx, the upper very short ; bracts unequal ; calyx 

 membranous, red nerved, tapering-cylindrical from truncate base, in 

 fruit club-shaped, teeth oblong, obtuse ; limb pwr^^Z^, bipartite to lase ; 

 capsule oblong, twice to thrice as long as gynophore — Spring — Sandy 

 places along coast, from Jaffa southward to Ramleh in the Tih. 



21. S. nocturna, L. © .3 to .4, puberulent 

 simple or sparingly branched. Leaves spathulate to 

 oblong or oblong-linear, acute. Raceme loose ; lower 

 peduncles as long as calyx or longer, the others short- 

 er ; bracts somewhat unequal, longer than peduncles *, 

 calyx .01 long, oUong in flower and fruit, tapering^ at 

 base, teeth lanceolate, acute ; limb small, whitish, 

 livid delow, cuneate, bifid ; capsule oblong, sessile — 

 Spring — Coast, and coast range to 1000 m. 



Var. 

 veined — 



prostrata, Post. Prostrate ; calyx green- 

 Ras Beirut. 



22. S. apetala, Willd. © .2 to .3, appressed- 

 pubescent ; stem erect, simple or dichotomous. 

 Leaves oblong-linear to linear-lanceolate. Flowers 

 loosely racemose, the upper irregularly cymose ; ped- 

 uncles longer than .008 long, green, campanulate, 

 in fruit odovate, calyx ; calyx teeth lanceolate, acute ; 

 petals 0, or minute, included, denticulate; capsule 

 globular, sessile — Spring and Summer — 



Var. Orientali§, Boiss. Fields ; Wadi Kelt ; 

 top of wall of Jerusalem ; sandy places near Duma, 

 Lebanon. 



stem erect, 

 Fig. 69. 



23. S. bipartita, Desf. © .3 to .4, appressed- 

 pubescent ; stems ascending or procumbent at base, 

 rarely erect, simple or dichotomous. Leaves obovate 

 obtuse, to oblong-linear acute ; bracts small, oblong- 

 lanceolate, unequal. Peduncles shorter than .02 long 

 calyx ; calyx red-nerved, obconical-cylindrical from 

 umbilicate base, in fruit club-shaped, teeth oblong, ob- 

 tuse ; limb pink, bifid into obovate or linear lobes 



Fruiting raceme of 

 S. nocturna. 



capsule ovate. 



once to twice as long as carpophore 

 coast. 



Spring — Sandy places along 



Var. Oliveriana, Post. Leaves often narrower. Calyx green- 

 nerved. Limb white or pale pinJc, with linear lobes. (8. Oliveriana, 

 Otth. 8. color ata, Poir.) 



Var. loilgipe§, Post. Capsule shorter than carpophore — Not un- 

 common. 



Var. stenophylla, Boiss. Leaves linear-oblong to linear. Stems 

 1 -few-flowered — Palestine to Sinai. 



