Colour and Smell of Sileneee. 133 



grey ; in short, is invariably of some or other indefinite 

 and inconspicuous colour. When therefore the petals 

 are unfolded and their inner surface displayed, the 

 white colour makes them very visible even in the, twi- 

 light; whereas in the daytime, when they are curled 

 up, and their under side alone exposed to view, the 

 dull tint makes them very inconspicuous, in spite of 

 the fuUer light, and conveys the impression of the 

 flower being already withered and past. (Plate III. fig. 

 115, flower of 8ile/m nutans at midnight; fig. 116, the 

 same flower at midday.) 



In conclusion, one fact is stUl to be noticed, namely, 

 that these Caryophyllacese are entirely without fragrance 

 during the daytime, whilst in the evening, simultane- 

 ously with the opening and spreading out of their 

 petals, they begin to exhale an aromatic odour. The 

 scent of ^ene loTigiflora is especially strong. Still 

 more powerful is that of Bilene nutans, which reminds 

 one strongly of the smell of hyacinths ; indeed so 

 striking is this likeness that my children, who often 

 came upon these flowers in their evening walks round 

 my house at Trins, in the Gschnitz Valley, used to 

 call them wild hyacinths. Some plants of Sileine nutans 

 which I had put into pots and placed in my bedroom, in 

 order to be able to observe them more conveniently at 

 night, fiUed the room with such a strong and almost 

 overpowering odour, that I was obliged to carry them 

 into another adjoining room. This odour, which is 



