624 SILENE. [CLASS X. ORDER 111. 



5'. De Cand. Prod. p. 1, p. 368. — j3. Lindley, Synopsis, p. 45. — 

 Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 204. 



■y. angustifolia, De Cand. Smooth leaves, linear lanceolate. — 

 /3, De Cand. Prod. p. 1, p. 368. 



^. virida. Stem downy; leaves ciliated, green, not glaucous. 



Root of stout branched fibres. The whole plant is mostly smooth, 

 and of a glaucous green, but in j3. maritima it is more or less downy ; 

 and in §. virida it is downy, but of a pale green colour, and not 

 glaucous. Stems mostly numerous, and procumbent at the base, 

 becoming erect, and from two to three feet high, round, leafy, branched, 

 and hollow, terminating in almost naked more or less branched pani- 

 cles. Leaves sessile, opposite, the lower ones tapering into a footstalk, 

 very variable in shape and size, ovate, ovate lanceolate, oblong, or as 

 in y. angustifolia linear lanceolate, from one to two inches long, and 

 always single ribbed. Inflorescence terminal, panicles more or less 

 branched and spreading, generally many flowered, at first drooping or 

 pendulous, becoming erect, each flower on a slender peduncle, having 

 at its base a pair of ovate thin membranous hractea. Calyx large, 

 roundish, ovate, inflated, of a thin semi -membranous texture, green 

 or purplish, mostly smooth, sometimes hairy, with numerous longi- 

 tudinal slender ribs, and copious netted connecting veins. Petals pure 

 white, the limb short, deeply divided into two narrow lobes, and mostly 

 crowned at the base with bifid scales, claws dilated at the top, tapering. 

 Stamens with slender filaments, of unequal lengths, about as long as 

 the calyx. Styles with linear stigmas, much longer than the stamens. 

 Capsule ovate, smooth, enveloped in the persistent calyx, more or less 

 deeply, three celled at the base, with a central conical receptacle, 

 bursting at the apex with six lanceolate recurved teeth. Seeds 

 numerous, dark brown, kidney-shaped, elegantly marked with lines 

 of elevated points. 



Habitat. — Pastures, hedges, and road sides ; common. /3. near the 

 sea, and on dry sandy ground about Worksop, Nottinghamshire, &c. 

 <y. near Lincoln, and Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire. ^. on cold 

 clay land about Lincoln. 



Perennial ; flowering in August. 



This is an extremely variable plant in size, in the shape of its leaves, 

 and the number of its flowers, and its either smooth or hairy, green or 

 glaucous, variations depending upon the soil and situation in which 

 it is grown. The young shoots, when grown quick and blanched, 

 form a very delicate and wholesome vegetable, having, it is said, the 

 flavour of green peas or asparagus, for either of which it might be 

 substituted ; and we have no doubt, if attention was paid to its improve- 

 ment, that its introduction as a new vegetable into the London markets 

 would well repay the trouble of its cultivation. 



3. S. mari'tima, With. (Fig. 709.) Sea Campion, or Catchfly. 

 Flowers solitary, or a few in a terminal panicle; calyx large, ovate, 

 numerously ribbed and reticulated with veins, fmoolh ; petals scarcely 



