PINK FAMILY 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE 



WHITE CAMPION 



Lychnis alba Mill. 



This casual immigrant from the Old world is a biennial 

 which grows 1-2 feet tall and is usually much branched. It is 

 found in waste places from Nova Scotia to Ontario, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Minnesota and southwestward, 

 and blooms during summer months. 



The whole plant is covered with 

 glandular hairs so that it is very viscid 

 or sticky. The leaves are opposite and 

 the lower ones taper into margined 

 petioles, whereas the upper are sessile 

 as shown. 



The white or pinkish, and often 

 dioecious flowers are somewhat fragrant, 

 opening in the evening and remaining 

 open during the morning hours ot the 

 next day. They greatly resemble the 

 Ragged Robin of our gardens, Lychnis 

 Flos-cuculi £., save that the latter are 

 much more deeply cleft. The staminate 

 flowers contain 10 stamens, and the 

 pistil of a pistillate flower consists of a 

 rather large ovary and ^ styles. The 

 white, 2-lobed petals are con- 

 spicuously crowned at the place 

 of bending. The 5-toothed calyx 

 is tubular and becomes much en- 

 larged as the fruit matures'. The 

 capsule contains many seeds and 

 opens by 5 2-lobed teeth. 



The Mullein Pink, Lychnis coronaria (L.) Desr., is a showy plant 

 16-36 inches high and white woolly. It is often cultivated. The 

 large crimson petals and twisted calyx teeth distinguish it from the 

 White Campion. Though this phint is abundant in southwestern 

 Michigan, official records of its having been found in Illinois are 

 meager. It is a perennial herb that has been introduced from Europe 

 and is now distributed from Maine to Michigan, and has also been 

 reported from the Pacific coast. 



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