LYCHNIS 



LYCHNIS 



1927 



LYCHNIS (from the Greek word for lamp, in allusion 

 to the flame-colored fls. of some species). Including 

 Agrostemma and Viscaria. Caryophylldcese. Interest- 

 ing flower-garden herbs. 



The technical generic characters are so variable 

 as to allow the genus to be thrown into Silene or to be 

 broken up into 7 or 8 distinct genera (for the latter, 

 see Williams, Journ. Bot. 31:167; Journ. Linn. Soc. 

 32:11), according to the point of view of the particu- 

 lar author. They are mostly erect-growing, and the 



2220. Capsule and seeds o 2221. Flower of Lychnis 



Lychnis Githago. ( X */Q Githago. 



Ivs. are opposite and entire. The caps, usually has but 

 one locule or compartment, and the seeds are borne on 

 a central or axile placenta (Fig. 2220) . The styles are 

 usually 5 or rarely 4, in this differing from Silene (in 

 which the styles are 3), and the calyx-teeth are com- 

 monly 5. In some species, 1Jhe styles are 3 and the caps, 

 is more than 1-loculed at base, but in these cases the 

 habit of the plant and minor technical characters enable 

 one to refer them to Lychnis rather than to Silene. The 

 stamens are 10; and the petals 5 and usually with a 

 2-cleft scale or a pair of teeth at the base of the blade. 

 As defined above, the genus contains 40-50 species, 

 annuals, biennials, and perennials, of the temperate 

 parts of the northern hemisphere. Agrostemma and 

 Viscaria might be separated, although the distinctions 

 are not very marked. Agrostemma has the 5 stamens 

 opposite the petals and the petals are not appendaged; 

 Lychnis would then be distinguished as having the 

 stamens alternate with the petals, and the latter are 

 often or usually appendaged so as to form a crown in 

 the corolla. If Lychnis is restricted to those species in 

 which the caps, is 1-celled to the base, then Viscaria 

 may be distinguished for certain species that are sev- 

 eral-celled at the base (see Viscaria). For horticultural 

 purposes these distinctions are not important. Petro- 

 coptis is here kept distinct. In the following synopsis 

 of the garden kinds, little attempt is made to follow 

 technical botanical divisions. 



Some of the species of Lychnis are amongst the best 

 known of old-fashioned flowers, as the mullein pink, 

 Maltese cross and ragged robin. These are essentially 

 flower-garden subjects, and of simple cultural require- 

 ments. Others, as L. alpina, are better known as bor- 

 der or rockwork plants (see also Petrocoptis). All spe- 

 cies are easily grown from seeds, the biennials and peren- 

 nials blooming the second year. The perennials are 

 often propagated by division. All of them apparently 

 thrive in the sun. 



alba, 9, 10. 

 alpina, 4. 

 chalcedonica, 2. 

 Cceli-rosa, 7. 

 Coronaria, 5. 

 corpnata, 14. 

 dioica, 8. 

 diurna, 8. 

 elegans, 10. 

 fimbriata, 7. 

 Flos-cuculi, 13. 



INDEX. 



Flos-Jovis, 6. 

 fulgens, 3, 12. 

 Githago, 1. 

 grandiflora, 14, 16. 

 Haageana, 16. 

 japonica, 14. 

 lapponica, 4. 

 Miqueliana, 15. 

 oculata, 7. 

 plenissima, 13. 



Preslii, 11. 

 semperflorens, 13. 

 Senno, 17. 

 Sieboldii, 14. 

 Silene, 7. 

 speciosa, 14. 

 splendens, 10. 

 vespertina, 9. 

 Viscaria, 10. 

 yunnanensis, 12. 



A. Calyx-lobes long and leafy; petals not, crowned. 



1. Githago, Scap. (Agrostemma Githago, Linn.). 

 CORN-COCKLE. Figs. 2220, 2221; also 1515. An annual 

 weed in wheat-fields, and difficult to eradicate because 

 the seeds are not readily screened from the wheat in the 

 thresher or f anning-mill : plant strict, 2-3 ft. tall, white- 

 hairy: Ivs. nearly linear: fls. long-peduncled, red-purple 

 and showy, the obovate entire petal-limbs exceeded by 

 the narrow calyx-lobes these lobes falling when the 

 fr. is ripe. Eu. Rarely cult, in old gardens. 



AA. Calyx-lobes not prolonged and leafy; petals usually 



crowned. 



B. Fls. 1 in. or less across, in dense terminal cymes or 

 umbellate heads. -(Forms of No. 14 may be sought 

 here.) 



2. chalcedonica, Linn. MALTESE CROSS. JERU- 

 SALEM CROSS. SCARLET LIGHTNING. Fig. 2222. 

 Perennial, 2-3 ft. tall, usually loose-hairy, the sts. 

 simple or nearly so: Ivs. oblong or cordate-lanceolate, 

 clasping (upper ones often narrow and tapering), short- 

 pointed, hairy: fls. 1 in. long, with narrow upward- 

 enlarging ribbed calyx and spreading obcordate- 

 notchedlimb. June. B.M. 257. Gn.M. 5:17. Proba- 

 bly Japanese, but long in cult., and one of the best of 

 all old-fashioned fls. The fls. are usually brick-red to 

 scarlet, but there are varieties with rose-colored, flesh- 

 colored and white blossoms; also with double fls. G. 

 4:391. The arrangement of the petal-limbs suggests 

 the Maltese cross, hence 



one of the common names. 

 Rarely persists for a time 

 as a weed. 



3. fulgens, Fisch. (not 

 Hort.). An erect-stemmed 

 perennial, hairy: Ivs. ovate 

 to ovate-oblong, roughish, 

 tapering below but scarcely 

 petioled : fls. few, in a rather 

 dense terminal cluster, 

 bright scarlet, each petal 

 divided into 2 broad lobes, 

 on the outer side of which 

 are 2 other and very nar- 

 row lobes, the ends of the 

 main lobes slightly toothed; 

 calyx oblong or ovate, 10- 

 ribbed, with erect teeth. 

 Siberia, China, Japan. B. 

 M. 2104. B.R. 478. Per- 

 haps not in cult, in this 

 country. The plant that 

 passes under this name is 

 probably a form of L. cor- 

 onata. From L. chalcedonica 

 it is distinguished by lower 

 stature, much larger fls., 

 and the well-marked side 

 teeth or lobes on the petals. 



4. alpina, Linn. (Viscaria 

 alpina, Don). Glabrous, 



tufted, a foot or less tall : Ivs. mostly at the base, thick- 

 ish, linear or oblong: fls. pink, with 2-lobed petals 

 (segms. linear), and short broad calyx with red teeth. 

 N. Asia, Eu., and Amer.; arctic and subarctic. B.M. 

 394. L.B.C. 9:881 (as L. suecica). L. lapponica, Hort., 

 is apparently a form of this species; said to be perhaps 

 somewhat dwarfer and deeper in color. G.M. 50:209. 

 An attractive alpine. 



BB. Fls. mostly larger, borne singly or in loose clusters, 



or at least the clusters not all terminal. 



c. Plant white-woolly throughout. 



5. Coronaria, Desr. (Agrostemma Coronaria, Linn. 

 Coronaria tomentosa, A. Br.). MULLEIN PINK. 



2222. Lychnis chalcedonica. 

 (XJfl 



