MALTESE CROSS 



This old edging Pink rejoices in many common names: Grass 

 Pink, Scotch Pink, Pheasant's Eye, Feathered Pink. A long row 

 in full bloom, with its gray-green foliage and pale-pink blossoms 

 heavy with fragrance, is an acquisition to any garden. This 

 species possesses to a marked degree the family fault of the genus; 

 that is, the calyx is rarely strong enough to hold the petal-claws 

 in place, but breaks down on one side so that the petals "spill" 

 out. This gives an untidy and dishevelled look to the blossom. 

 The garden forms vary from single to full double and from white 

 to variegated pink. 



MALTESE CROSS. LONDON PRIDE 



Lychnis chalcedSnica. 



Lychnis, lamp, of Greek derivation; referring to the brilliancy of 

 many of the flowers of the genus. 



A perennial herb, native to Russia, which has long been in cultivation. 



Stems. — Simple, two to three feet high, usually hairy. 



Leaves. — Oblong or cordate-lanceolate, clasping upper ones often 

 narrow and pointing. 



Flowers. — Scarlet to brick-red, borne in dense terminal cymes, or 

 spreading heads. 



Calyx. — Narrow, ribbed, five-toothed. 



Petals. — Five, long-clawed; hmb obcordate, notched, spreading, 

 with a two-cleft scale or pair of teeth at the base of the blade. 



Stamens. — Ten. 



Ovary. — One-celled; styles five. 



Alice Morse Earle writes most sympathetically of this well- 

 known plant as follows: "A great favorite in the old garden 

 was the splendid scarlet Lychnis to which in New England is 

 given the name of London Pride. There are two varieties— one 

 has five petals with squared ends and is called, from the shape 

 of the expanded flower, the Maltese Cross; the other, called 

 Scarlet Lightning, has five deeply nicked petals. It is a flower 



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