630 SILENE. [CLASS T. ORDER III. 



branched flowering stems, which are much longer than S. nutans, and 

 the branches are alternate, rarely opposite. It is frequent in Italy, 

 growing mostly in stony places on hill sides. 



10. . nocti'fiora, Linn. (Fig. 716.) Night -flowering Catchfiy. 

 Viscoso-pubescent; stem erect, branched, above forked; calyx cylin- 

 drical, oblong, ovate in fruit, ten ribbed, \\ith awl-shaped teeth ; petals 

 deeply bifid, crowned ; leaves large, the lower ones obovate, peliolated, 

 the upper lanceolate, attenuated, sessile. 



English Botany, t. 291. English Flora, vol. ii. p. 295. Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 206. Lindley, Synopsis, p. 46. 



Root small, tapering, and branched. The whole plant clothed with 

 soft pubescence, somewhat viscid, and of a dark green colour. Stem 

 erect, round, from one to two feet high, branched above in a forked 

 manner, aud from the axis of each division is a solitary flower, on 

 rather a long peduncle. Flowers not very numerous, rather large, 

 sweet scented, and only expanding after sun-set, of a pale pink, almost 

 white, the peduncles viscid. Calyx large, cylindrical when in flower, 

 becoming ovate or oblong ovate when in fruit, striated, with ten stout 

 green ribs, pale and membranous between, the limb of five narrow- 

 more or less awl shaped teeth. Petals with a tapering claw, the limb 

 of two broad lobes, somewhat heart-shaped, with an obtuse cloven scale 

 at the base. Stamens with slender filaments and small ovate anthers, 

 purplish. Styles as long as the stamens, with linear downy stigmas. 

 Capsule ovate, elevated on a short thick pedicle, enveloped in the per- 

 sistent calyx. 



Habitat. Sandy or gravelly fields; not common, though found in 

 many parts of England. On the coast of Angus-shire, Scotland. 

 Mr. G. Don. Near Inreresk. Mr. Coldstream. 



Annual ; flowering in July. 



Sect. 7. ATOCION. Olth. De Cand. Prod. p. 1. p. 383. Stem 

 elongated. Flowers corymbose. Calyx club-shaped, with ten stria. 



11. S. Arme'ria, Linn. (Fig. 717.) Common or Label's Catchfiy. 

 Smooth, glaucous, upper joints of the stem viscid, branched ; panicle 

 branched; flowers corymbose, densely crowded; calyx long, club- 

 shaped, the limb of five ovate acute teeth ; petals notched, crowned 

 with awl-shaped scales; leaves ovate lanceolate, sessile. 



English Botany, t. 1398. English Flora, vol. ii. p. 296. Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 207. Lindley, Synopsis, p. 46. 



Root small, tapering. The whole plant smooth, and of a deep 

 glaucous green. Stem erect, solitary, simple, or more frequently 

 alternately branched, round, leafy, swollen at the joints, the upper 

 ones with a viscid and often downy ring under them. Leaves ovate 

 lanceolate, sessile, opposite, with a stout mid-rib and slender lateral 

 veins. Inflorescence dense terminal corymbose panicles, of numerous 

 flowers, each elevated on a short peduncle, with a membranous lanceo- 

 late bractea. Calyx long, smooth, striated, with ten slender ribs, the 



