FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
cleft scale at the base of the blade. Natives of the north temperate 
zone; six British. 
History The species of Lychnis are familiarly known as 
Campions. They have been in gardens for a long period. 
L. chalcedonica , from Russia, and L. coronaria, from South Europe, were 
introduced three hundred years ago, and these with our native species 
have formed the principal representatives of the genus under cultivation. 
To these were added L. pyrenaica, from the Pyrenees, in 1819; the 
popular L. fvlgens, from Siberia, three years later; and L. Lagasccc, from 
Spain, about thirty years ago. L. Haageana, from Japan, was until 
recently thought to be a garden hybrid between L. fulgens and L. 
Sieboldi. Cultivation and selection have produced varieties of most of 
our native species. 
Principal Species Lychnis ALPINA (alpine) has a branching rootstock 
‘and tufts of slender lance-shaped radical leaves, from the 
centre of which rise the flowering stems (4 to 8 inches). The rosy 
flowers are about £ an inch across, on short footstalks, and disposed in 
compact cymes. June and July. Native perennial. 
L. chalcedonica (like chalcedony). A favourite perennial, 2 to 3£ 
feet high, with lance-shaped, hairy leaves and dense clusters of bright 
scarlet flowers; calyx club-shaped, ribbed. Flowers throughout summer. 
There are several varieties, single and double, red and white. 
L. coronaria (crowned). A silvery-haired perennial, about 3 feet 
high, with tough, thick, woolly, lance-shaped leaves, and large rose or 
purplish flowers—sometimes white—on long footstalks. Calyx strongly 
ribbed; petals entire. Flowers June and July. Plate 42. There are 
several varieties; one with double purple flowers. L. hybrida is said 
to be a hybrid between L. coronaria and L. Flos-jovis ; it has its flowers 
—usually crimson or scarlet—in dense heads. 
L. diurna (day-flowering). Red Campion, Bachelor’s Buttons. 
A native perennial of damp hedgebanks, with erect, soft hairy stems, 
2 or 3 feet high, and rosy flowers in loose cymes. Calyx reddish; petals 
cleft into two lobes, with lance-shaped scales. Flowers April to Septem¬ 
ber. Although a common weed in some districts, it lends itself to 
cultivation, and there is a large double-flowered var. rubra. 
L. Flos-cuculi (cuckoo-flower). Ragged Robin. A pretty native 
perennial weed of moist meadows and bogs, with slender stems and 
nodding rosy flowers in loose cymes. Calyx purple veined; petals 
divided into four long and slender segments. May and June. There is 
a double-flowered variety. 
L. fulgens (shining). A perennial with hairy stems about a foot 
