SILENE. 



what revoliite, recurved. Flowers fmaller than the laft, 

 efpccially their calyx, which is pale, reddifh, deftitute of 

 tranfverle ribs. Petals cream-coloured abore ; of a cinna- 

 mon brown beneath ; their creft in two rounded entire lobes. 

 This is probably a night-fcented flower, like the laft. 



S. rawojjfmm. Bufhy Red Catchfly. Sm. Prodr. Fl. 

 Grsec. Sibth. n. looi. Fl. Grxc. t. 425, unpublifhed. 

 (S. fedoides ; Desfont. Atlant. v. 2. 449 ? Bivon. Cent. 2. 

 58. Ocymoides, flore rubro, minus, creticum ; Bauh. 

 Hill. V. 3. 352. cap. 59. Lychnis hirta angultifolia cretica; 

 Tourn. Init. 337.) — Petals deeply divided; with a four- 

 cleft crett. Calyx club-fhaped, with ten angle;!. Leaves 

 fpatulate, recurved. Stem very much branched. — Native of 

 Crete and Sicily, on rocks near the fea. Root annual. 

 Whole herb hairy and vifcid, green with a brown tint, re- 

 peatedly branched from the very bottom, fpreading, four 

 or five inches high. Leaves about an inch long, obtufe, ra- 

 ther flefhy* Flowers very abundant, fmall, on long, red, 

 hairy ftalks, from the forks, fides, and fummits of the 

 branches, ereft. Calyx fomewhat obovate, hairy, red, with 

 ten ribs. Petals role-coloured ; their limb divided nearly to 

 the bottom ; their creil white, in four deep awl-(haped fcg- 

 ments. Capful: ereft, cylindrical, opening with three 

 fpreading, obtufe, cloven teeth. Seeds black. That this 

 is S. fedoides of fignior Bivona Bernardi, in his fecond Cen- 

 turia Sicularum Plantarum, we haveafcertained by fpecimens 

 from himielf, fiixe the publication of Prodr. Fl. Grace. 

 But there is reafon for hefitation rcfpefting the plant of 

 Desfontames, which is probably VVilldenow's n. 36 ; the 

 former defcribes it as procumbent, with only two appendages 

 to C/ich petal, and the latter cites Lychnis cretica maritima 

 minima, psrtulaca fyhejlris folio, Tourn. Cor. 24, a fpecies 

 unknown to us, 



Seft. 3. Stem forked, corymbofe. 



S. rubella. Small-red-fiowered Catchfly. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 600. Willd. n. 38. Alt. n. 43. Sm. Fl. Grsec. 

 Sibth. t. 426, unpubliftied. (Vifcago lufitanica, flore ru- 

 bello vix confpicuo ; Dill Elth. 423. t. 314. f. 406.) — 

 Smooth, corymbofe. Calyx obovate. Petals emarginate ; 

 with a rounded two-lobed creit. Upper leaves ovato- 

 lanceolate. Capfule thrice as long as its partial ilalk. — 

 Native of fields and wafte ground, in Portugal, Rhodes, 

 and Cyprus, flowering in fpring. Root annual. Herb 

 quite fmooth, of a glaucous green. Stem a foot or more 

 in height, branched from the bottom, leafy ; all the branches 

 creft. Lower leaves obovate, recurved, an inch and a half 

 long : upper rather Ihorter, acute, lanceolate, flightiy ovate, 

 recurved at the point. Flowers moltly crowded into a 



vel-topped panicle, with one or two below, in the forks 

 A the brandies, pale red, ereft. . Calyx fcarcely more than 

 half an inch long, ten-ribbed, fmooth, pale, witli purple 

 teeth. Petals of a dull rofe-colour, fpreading, inverfely 

 heart-fhaped, but rather oblong ; their creft of two oblong, 

 rounded, entire lobes. Capfule roundifti-ovatc, on a fhoit 

 partial ftalk. 



S. orchidea. Orchis-flowered Catchfly. Linn. Suppl. 

 241. WiUd. n. 46. Ait. n. 50. Sm. Fl. Grxc. Sibth. 

 t. 427, uiipubliihed. (S. Atocion ; Jacq. Hort. Vind. 

 V. 3. 19. t. 32. Lychnis graeca, bellidis folio verna, flore 

 parvo dilute purpurafcente ; Tourn. Cor. 24. ) — Downy, 

 corymbofe. Calyx cylindrical-club-ftiaped. Petals four- 

 Uibftd ; with a (harp two-lobed creft. Upper leaves ovate. 

 Partial ibJk as long as the capfule. — Native of the Levant, 

 (towering in May. Annual, of the fize and habit of the 

 tall, but the herbage is of a grafs-grcen, and finely hairy 

 or downy, particularly the llcm, the upper part of which 

 IS alfo vifcid. Leaves broader, fomctimes fmooth in the 



diflt, though rough-edged. Flowers crowded and Itvel- 

 topped. Calyx an inch long, downy, often red. Petals 

 rofe-coloured, four-lobcd like the lip of Orchis mililaris, 

 having two rounded central fegmenta, and two narrower 

 (harp lateral ones. The lobes of their cre/l are awl-diaped. 

 The creft^ is not well diftinguiflied in Jacquin's figure from 

 the lateral lobes. 



S. Armerta. Common, or Lobel's, Catchfly. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 601. Willd. n. 46. Fl. Brit. n. ic. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 1398. Fl. Dan. t. 559. (Mufcipula Lobelii ; Ger. 

 Em. 601.) — Smooth, corymbofe. Calyx cylindrical club- 

 fhaped. Petals emarginate ; with a ftiarp two-lobed creft. 

 Upper leaves heart-fhaped. Partial ftalk as long as the 

 capfule. — Found in fields, and on banks, in various parti 

 of Europe, but a doubtful native of England, though fre- 

 quently cultivated as a hardy ornamental annual, flowering 

 in fummer. Dr. Sibthorp met with this fpecies in Greece, 

 and on mount Athos. In habit it agrees very much with 

 the laft, but is fmooth, more glaucous, with broader leaves, 

 and the ca/)w is not downy. The /i^^/aA- are fimply obcor- 

 date, without lateral lobes. There is a brown glutinous 

 ring under each joint of the Jlem, by which flies are 

 caught. 



S. ilalica. Italian Naked Catchfly. Sm. Prodr. Fl. 

 Grsec. Sibth. n. 1006. Fl. Gixc. t. 429, unpubliftied. 

 Ait. n. 6. (Cucubalws italicus : Linn. Sp. PI. 591. 

 Willd. Sp. PI. V. 2. 686. Jacq. Obf. fafc. 4. 12. t.-97. 

 not 79, as in Hort. Kew. and Willd^now.) — Panicle co- 

 rymbofe, fpreading, fomewhat three-forked. Petals in two 

 deep narrow fegments, without a creft. Leaves fpatulate, 

 rough. — Native of Italy and Greece. Cultivated by Miller. 

 The root is biennial. Herb green, roughlfli w ith fhort rigid 

 hairs. Stem folitary, herbaceous, ereft, twelve or eighteeu 

 inches high, leafy, fomewhat branched above, but chiefly 

 at the bafe, from whence it fends out feveral, decumbent, 

 leafy, purplifh fhoots, three or four inches long. Lower 

 leaves (talked, fpatulate or obovate ; upper lanceolate ; all 

 thin and phant, not flefhy. Panicle creft, rather flender, 

 divaricated, more or lefs downy. Calyx an inch long, 

 (lightly fwcliing upward, with ten rough reddifti ribs. 

 Petals quite naked ; their limb cloven nearly to the bafe, 

 narrow, obtufe; white above; veined with purple under- 

 neath. Capfule ovate, on a long ftalk within the calyx. 



S. cathotica. Paniclcd Naked Catchfly. Ait. n. 10. 

 (Cucubaliis catholicus ; Linn. Sp. PI. 593. Willd. Sp. 



PI. v. 2. 688. Jacq. Hort. Vind. v. i. 23. t. 59.) 



Panicle forked, much branched, widely fpreading. Petals 

 in two deep narrow iegments, without a creft. Calyx obo- 

 vate, fmooth. Leaves ovato-lar.ceolate, nearly fmooth. — 

 Native of Italy and Sicily. Mentioned in Ciipani's Hortus 

 Catholicus, or Garden of the Prince of la Catolica, whence 

 came the fpecific name ; and not, as many fuppofc, from flie 

 plant being a native of Roman Catholic countries. The plant 

 is perennial, of a tall flender habit, green, fmooth, or flightiy 

 rough, with a large divaricated />rtn;c/.-, of numerous, fmall, 

 white Jlwwtrs, whofe calyx is one-third of an inch long, 

 often purple, obfcurely ribbed. Stamens ufually longer 

 than the petals. Capfule nearly globole, on a long ftalk. 

 We are not quite fatisfied n-fpedting yifcugo noflurna non 

 vifcofa, hcrbaceojiore ; Dill. Elth. 425. '..^ifi, confidcred 

 by Linineiis as a variety of this, but it (etnis to be S.faxa- 

 tilis. Ait. n. 28. Curt. Mag. t. 6H9. 



S. molliffima. Velvet Naked Catchfly. Sm. Prodr. Fl. 

 Grxc. Sibth. n. 1007. Ait. 11. 11. (Cucubahis mollifTi- 

 mus; Linn. Sp. PI. 595. Willd. Sp. PI. v. =. 6S8.) — 

 Panicle corymbofe, fomewhat three-forked. Petals roiiiuird, 

 cloven, without a creft. Stem, kaves, and calyx covered' 



with 



