SILENE. 



war, Sweden, Switzerland, and Greece. The root is peren- 

 nial, tufted, bearing feveral leafy Jienis, four or five inches 

 high, with a fomewhat corymbofe/an/V/^. Herbage fmooth, 

 green, fcarcely at all glaucous. Leaves an inch long, acute, 

 varying in length, /"/owr/ fmall, white. CajS/u/s fphtting 

 from top to bottom into fix valves. 



S. chlorMa. Armenian Catchfly. [Sm. Plant, ex Herb. 

 Linn. t. 13. Willd.n. 50. Ait. n.52. Curt. Mag. t. 807. 

 (Lychnis orientaUs vifcofa, centaurei lutei folio, flore longif- 

 fimo; T0urn.C0r.24.)— Paniclefpi-eading. Petals cloven half 

 way down, with a two-lobed creft. Leaves glaucous, elhp- 

 tical, pointed. Calyx nearly cylindrical, very fmoeth, with- 

 out veins.— Gathered by Tournefort in Armenia. Said to 

 have been introduced at Kew in 1796, by Mr. John Hunne- 

 mann. A hardy perennial, twelve or eighteen inches high, 

 flowering in Auguft, readily known by the general refem- 

 blance of its foliage to Chlora perfefiata, though the kavet 

 are not perfoliate. Flotuers large, eredt, in a wide panicle, 

 virithout fcent, white, turning reddifii as they fade. Calyx 

 above an inch long, tinged with purple, very fmooth, with- 

 out ribs or veins, its form flender, cylindrical, or flightly 

 club-fhaped. 



S. longipetala. Long-petalled Catchfly. Vent. Jard. de 

 Gels, t. 83. Sm. Prodr. Fl. Gra;c. Sibth. n. 992. Fl. Grac. 

 t. 419, unpublifhed. — Flowers pendulous. Petals in two 

 deep linear fegments ; with a notched creft, and hairy claw. 

 Leaves lanceolate, rough-edged. — Found by Bruguiere and 

 Ohvier, in the neighbourhood of Aleppo. Dr. Sibthorp 

 met with the fame in the ifle of Cyprus. The root is annual. 

 Stem two feet high, leafy, panicled, fpreading, and many- 

 flowered. Herbage rather glaucous, fmooth, except the 

 edge of the leaves, which is rough to the touch. Leaves 

 about tliree inches long, acute, ilrongly ribbed ; the lower 

 ones elongated andcontrafted at the bafe, clafping the ftem 

 at the very bottom. Flotuers green, quite pendulous. Ca- 

 lyx obovate, ten-ribbed, fmooth, half an inch long. Claws 

 of the petals hairy below, as well as the Jlamens and Jlyks ; 

 limb fmooth, very long, involute. Stigmas club-(haped, red 

 like the anthers. 



S. inaperta. Small Greenifh Catchfly. Linn. Sp PI. 

 600. WiUd. n. 39. Ait. n. 44. Sm. Fl. Grxc. Sfbth. 

 t. 420. unpublifhed. (Vifcago Isvis, inaperto flore ; Dill. 

 Elth.424. t. 315.) — Paniclelpreading. Flowersereft. Petals 

 in two deep narrow fegments ; with a double awl-fhaped 

 crefl:. Leaves linear-lanceolate, fmooth. — Native of Ma- 

 deira. Alton, Dr. Sibthorp found it on the mountains of 

 Greece. The root in his fpecimens is creeping, and evidently 

 perennial. DiUenius defcribes it as annual. Stems feveral, 

 near a foot high, clothed in the lower part with numerous 

 fmooth green leaves, about an inch long ; and branching at 

 the top into a panicle of a few pale delicate Jlonvers, which 

 feem not to have expanded properly in Sherard's garden, 

 whence originated the fpecific name. In our Greek fpeci- 

 mens the calyx is flender, rather club-fliaped, an inch long, 

 fmooth, with ten green ribs. Petals widely fpreading, 

 greenifh -white above, light brown beneath ; their creft fmall, 

 in two fimple awl-fliaped lobes. Capfule ovate, its ilalk, 

 within the calyx, as long as itfelf. 



S. juncea. Rufhy Catchfly. Sm. Prodr. Fl. Grsc. 

 Sibth. 11.994. Fl. Grasc. t.421, unpubliflied Panicle elon- 

 gated. Flowers treft. Petals in two deep narrow fegments ; 

 each lobe of their creft three-toothed. Leaves fpatulate, 

 all over rough.— Gathered by Dr. Sibthorp in Afia Minor. 

 Thi< has a fmall, white, annual root. Stem folitary, ereft, 

 two or three feet higli ; leafy and rough below ; terminating 

 in a very long, flender, fmooth, flightly fpreading panicle, 

 of numerous flowersf which are rather larger than tlie pre- 



ceding, but with a (horter calyx. Pttals white, with browM 

 veins beneath. The leaves are crowded at the root, and 

 bottom of the ftem, green, an inch and a half long, iomt- 

 what pointed ; thofe about the panicle are awl-ftiaped and 

 fmooth. 



S. cretica. Cretan Catchfly. Linn. Sp. PI. 601. Willd. 

 n.42. Ait. n. 47. Sm. Fl. Grxc. Sibth. t. 432, unpublifhed. 

 (Vifcago foliis iiiferioribus bellidis, fuperioribus tunicae, 

 calice ilriftiore, ct turgidiore ; Dill. Elth. 422. t. 314. 

 f. 404, 405.) — Panicle fparingly branched. Flowers ereft. 

 Petals in two deep divaricated fegments; the lobes of their creft 

 acute, entire. Lower leaves cbovate, undulated, roughifh.— 

 Found by Dr. Sibthorp on rocks near the fea, in Crete and 

 Cyprus, as well as on the coall of Caramania. A hardy 

 annual, fpringingup fpontaneoufly year after year in Chelfea 

 garden. The^ems are two or three, from one to two feet 

 high, ereft, flender, vifcid. Leaves green ; the lower ones 

 obovate, obtufe and rough ; upper linear-lanceolate, acute, 

 fmooth. Flo'wers few, fmall, but not inelegant, crimibn, 

 with a fmooth, purplifh, obovate, ten-ribbed calyx. There 

 is an angular tootli to the claw of the petals, at each fide, be- 

 low the creft. 



S. conica. Corn Catchfly. Linn. Sp. PI. 598. Willdi 

 n. 21. Fl. Brit. n. 8. Engl. Bot. t. 922. Jacq. Auftr. 

 t. 253. Sm. Fl. Grxc. Sibth. t. 243, unpubliflied. 

 (Lychnis caliculis Itriatis, fecuiida Cluiii ; Ger. Em. 

 470.) — Stem forked. Petals cloven half way down } 

 with a rounded cloven creft. Leaves foft and downy. 

 Calyx of the fruit conical, with thirty ribs. — Native of 

 fandy corn-fields in the fouth of Europe and the Le-. 

 vant ; rare in England, though it ftill occurs, as in the time 

 of Dillenius, in the fandy parts of Kent, flowering about 

 July. Root annual. Herb downy and vifcid, of a greyiOi- 

 green. Stems folitary or numerous, fpreading, various in 

 height, forked and panicled. Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute. 

 Flotuers ereft, pale rofe-coloured, fragrant, efpecially at 

 night, with the fcent of a honey-fuckle. Calyx cylindrical, 

 becoming conical as the capfule fwells, and membranous, 

 with thirty green ribs, and five long flender teeth. Petah 

 nearly obcordate, as is alfo the white creft of each. — The 

 petals appear to be fometimes entire, fo that we fufpcft ^. 

 conoidea of Linnxus may be a variety of this, with fmoother 

 broader leaves. 



S. no&iflora. Night-flowering Catchfly. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 599. Willd. n. 31. Fl. Brit. n. 9. Engl. Bot. t. 29I. 

 (Ocymoides noftiflorum ; Camcr. Hort. 109. t. 34.) — Stem 

 forked. Petals rather deeply cloven ; witii a fhort blunt 

 creft. Calyx with ten angles, connefted by tranfvcrfe ribs ; 

 its teeth as long as the tube. — Native of fandy or gravelly 

 fields, in Sweden, Germany, England, S^vjtzerland, Crete, 

 and .Afia Minor ; not rare in Norfolk and Suffolk, flowering 

 in July. Root annual. Herb dark green, foftly hairy or 

 downy, fpreading, of a coarfe rank habit. Leaves lanceo- 

 late, three-ribbed ; the lowefl obovate. Flotuers the fize of 

 our common Lychnis dioica, (their calyx and Jlalks very 

 vifcid,) unrolling their pale blufh-coloured^rtj/x in an even- 

 ing only, when they exhale, in warm weather, a powerful and 

 delicious fcent. The itrong reticulated ribs of the calyie 

 are remarkable. 



S. leucophita. White and Brown Catchfly. Sm. Prodr. 

 Fl. Grxc. Sibth. n. 1000. Fl. Grxc. t. 424, unpubliflied. 

 — Petals in two deep rather narrow fegments ; with a deeply 

 cloven creft. Calyx with ten angles. Leaves hnear-oblong, 

 recurved, glutinous and hairy. Difcovered by Dr. Sib- 

 thorp, in the ifle of Cyprus. A hairy, glutinous, branching, 

 annual fpccies, about a fpan high. Leaves an inch or inch 

 and half long, green, narrow, obtufe, channelled, fome- 

 what 



