DECANDRIA— PENTAGYNIA. Agrostemma. 325 



shaped ; 5 shoi'ter than the rest, attached to the claws of 

 the petals. Anfh. oblong, notclied at each end. Germ. 

 superior, ovate. Styles thread-shaped, erect, the length 

 of the stamens. SZ/^raas slender, downy. Caj95. oblong- 

 ovate, of 1 cell, and 5 rigid valves, more or less combined 

 below, inclosed in the hardened calyx. Seeds numerous, 

 kidney-shaped, granulated, stalked, attached to the un- 

 connected central column. 

 Herbs with an upright stem ; simple, entire, narrow, oppo- 

 site, mostly downy, leaves ; and several upright, stalked, 

 solitar}'^, purple or rose-coloured, handsome j^otu^s, in 

 most species, but not in ours, crowned with rigid sharp 

 teeth at the mouth. 



1. A. Githago. Corn Cockle. 



Hairy. Calyx-teeth rising above the corolla. Petals un- 

 divided, without teeth. 



A. Githago. Linn. Sp. Pi. 624. mild. v. 2.805. Fl.Br.493. Engl. 



Bot. v.W. t. 741. Curt. Lond.fasc. 3. t. 27. Mart. Rust. t. 105. 



Hook. Scot. 141. Ft. Dan. t. 576. Dreves Bilderb. t. 22. 

 Lychnis n. 926. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 401. 

 L. segetum major. Bauh. Pin. 204. RaiiSyn. 338. 

 Pseudojnelanthium. Matth. Falgr.v.2.\54.f. Camer.Epit. 554.^. 



Bauh. Hist. v. 3. p. 2. 341 ./. Dalech. Hist. 438./. Ger. Em. 



1087./. 

 Nigella. Brunf. Herb. 242. / 24 1 . 

 Nigellastrum. Dod. Coronar. 49. f. Petnpt. 173. f. 

 Githago, sen Lolium. Trag. Hist. 127. f. 

 Lolium. Fuchs. Hist. 127. f. 



In corn-fields, a troublesome weed. 



Annual. June, July. 



Root tapering. Herb clothed with upright hoary hairs. Stem 

 round, branched, leafy, about a yard high. Leaves sessile, 

 joined at the base, linear-lanceolate. Fl. on upright stalks, 

 purple, with blueish streaks, large and very handsome, however 

 odious in the sight of the farmer among his ripening corn. Cal. 

 very hairy, with long, narrow, smoother teeth, upright before 

 and after flowering. This genus has been, by many botanists, 

 united with Lychnis ; from which it is distinguished chiefly by 

 the very hard and tough calyx, and undivided petals, whose 

 teeth moreover, when present, are peculiarly horny and sharp, 

 unlike those of any other plants of this natural order ; but they 

 are wanting in our only British species. 



This weed should be eradicated by hand before flowering. 



