SILENE. 



with foft down.— Native of the fea-coall of Italy. Ga- 

 thered by Dr. Sibthorp in Afia Minor, between Smyrna 

 and Prufa. We regret that he had not time to have a 

 drawing taken of this rare and curious fpecies, of which 

 there is not, to our knowledge, any figure extant. Rand 

 mentions the plant as cultivated at Chelfea, in 1739, 

 and Linnaeus had it at Upfal. Thcjlem is branched, fome- 

 what (lirubby. Whole herbage clothed with velvet-like 

 pubefcence. Leaves crowded, fpatulate, an inch and a 

 half long, acute, (lightly revolute. Panicles denfe, level- 

 topped. Calyx club-(haped, ten-ribbed. Petals white or 

 reddifh ; their limb inverfely heart-fhaped. We find this 

 plant mentioned in Mr. Bonn's Cambridge catalogue, as in- 

 troduced in 1804. If it exills in any garden, a figure ought 

 to be publilhi'd 



S. frulicofa. Shrubby Catchfly. Linn. Sp. PI. 597. 

 Willd. n. 14. Ait. n. z6. Sm. Fl. Grjec. Sibth. t, 428, 

 unpublidied. (Saponaria frutefcens, acutis foliis, ex Sicilia; 

 Bocc. Sic. 58. t. 30. Ocymoides fruticofum ; Camer. 

 Hort. 109. t. 33, excellent.) — Panicle corymbofe, clofe, 

 fomewhat three-forked. Calyx club-(haped, rough. Petals 

 cloven ; crell of four teeth. Stem (hrubby. Leaves 

 rough-edged. — Native of rocky fituations, near the fea, in 

 Sicily and Cyprus. It is fuppofed, on the authority of 

 Parkinfon'i Paradifus 254. n. 10, to have been cultivated 

 here in his time. Tiie Jiem is woody, half an inch in 

 diameter, with numerous tufted leafy branches, whofe 

 ereft flowering extremities, about a fpan long, are more 

 diftantly furnilhed with fmaller leaves, and are downy, 

 vifcid, and coloured in the upper part, each bearing a denfe 

 level-topped panicle, of ten or fifteen X^xgejlo-wers. Leaves 

 recurved, fpatulate, pointed, about an inch long, evergreen, 

 fmooth, and (hining ; the edges only being rough with 

 minute, reflexed, rigid hairs. Calyx above an inch long, 

 ten-ribbed. Limb of each petal of a long, inverfely heart- 

 fhaped, form ; pink above ; veined with green beneath ; 

 their creft white, of two acute, fomewhat notched, prin- 

 cipal fegments, and two fharp teeth at the bafe. In the 

 Prodr, Fl. Grxc. the figure of this plant is, by miftake, 

 referred to S. paradoxa, which will be correAed in the 

 Flora itfelf. 



Seft. 4. Stem panicled, fcarcely forked. 



S. rigidula. Slender Rigid Catchfly. Sm. Prodr. Fl. 

 Graec. Sibth. n. 1009. Fl. Grsc. t. 430, unpubUlhed. — 

 Stem alternately branched, fpreading. Petals in two deep 

 (harpifii lobes ; each fegmcnt of their creft four-toothed. 

 Leaves lanceolate, fmooth. — Difcovered by Dr. Sibthorp, 

 on mount Hymettus, near Athens. The root is annual. 

 Stem ereft, a toot high, copioufly branched from the very 

 bottom, fpreading, flendcr, purplifh, vifcid, but, like every 

 other part, dellitute of pubefcence. Leaves green, narrow, 

 few and remote, about an inch long ; the lowermoft longer 

 and broader. Petals pale pink, veined with crimfon. Calyx 

 club-fhaped, pale green, with ten red ribs, fmooth, not an 

 inch long. Capfule ovate, fhorter than its flalk. A very 

 pretty Ipecies, whofe copious and delicate Jlowers would 

 be an acquifition to our gardens. 



S. fpinefcens. Tliorny-branched Catchfly. Sm. Prodr. 

 Fl. Grac. Sibth. loio. Fl. Graec. t. 431, unpublilhed. 

 — Stem Ihrubby, branche.s oppofite, horizontal, becoming 

 thorns. Petals deeply divided. Leaves fpatulate, downy 

 all over — Found by Dr. Sibthorp in Afia Minor. The 

 finn is thick and woody, very denfely branched, leafy, 

 downy, remarkable for its numerous, long, divaricated, 

 lateral (hoots, which finally harden into fpines. The flower- 

 ing branches are ereft, a fpan high, each bearing a race- 

 mofe, downy panicle, of pale-green Jloiuers, veined under- 



neath with brown, and, to judge by their afpeft, doubt- 

 lefs fragrant at night. Calyx about an inch long, green, 

 downy. The creft of each petal confifts of two fmall, 

 rounded, white lobe?. Capfule ovate, twice the length of 

 its ftalk. 



S. gigantea. Gigantic Catchfly. Linn. Sp. PI. 598. 

 Willd. n. 17. Ait. n. 29. Sm. Fl. Graec. Sibth. t. 432. 

 (Lychnis grzca, fedi arborefcentis folio et facie; Walth. 

 Hort. 32. t. II.) — Stem ereA, downy, and vifcid. Flowers 

 tufted. Leaves fpatulate, villous. Petals in two rounded 

 lobes. Capfule nearly globular. — Native of Crete and the 

 iflands of the Archipelago ; Linnxus by mi(take fays of 

 Africa. It has long been known in our more curious 

 green-houfes, and is efteemed for the fweet nofturnal per- 

 fume of its pale green flowers. The plant, though a yard 

 high, and of a (hrubby afpeft, is only biennial. Radical 

 leaves two inches long, copious, of a broad fpatulate figure, 

 more or lefs villous, light green, obtule, with or without a 

 fmall point. Stem ftraight, vifcid ; leafy, with feveral (hort 

 branches, below ; (lightly branched above, but befet with 

 denfe, whorl-like, downy panicles, of numerous flo'-Meri. 

 Calyx three-quarters of an inch long, club-(haped, downy. 

 Limb of the petals divided more than half way, into two 

 broad rounded lobes, veined beneath with purple ; their 

 creft cloven, very (hort. Capfule twice as long as its 

 ftalk. 



S. congifla. Tufted Green Catchfly. Sm. Prodr. Fl. 

 Grsc. Sibth. n. 1012. — Stem fomewhat branched. Pani- 

 cles terminal, denfe, many-flowered. Petals deeply divided, 

 without a creit. Leaves fpatulate, downy. — Gathered by 

 Dr. Sibthorp in Greece ; we believe on hills near Athens. 

 The root is woody, evidently perennial, bearing many tufts 

 of copious, fpatulate, obtufe, green leaves, an inch and a 

 half long, clothed, like the reft of the herbage, with denfe, 

 very (hort, pubefcence. Stems ereft, from nine mches to 

 two feet high, fcarcely leafy, bearing a few alternate 

 branches, fomewhat vifcid at the top, where each termi- 

 nates in a denfe tufted panicle of greeni(h jloiuers, whofe 

 calyx is half an inch long, obovate, or club-(haped, and 

 whofe petals are cloven into two rounded lobes, without 

 any creft. This fpecies, of which we have no figure, is in 

 fome points allied to the laft, but more akin, on the whole, 

 to the following. 



S. viridijlora. Panicled Green Catchfly. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 597. Willd. n. 19. Ait. n. 31. (Lychnis ocymaftri 

 folio, flore viridi ; Herm. Parad 199, with a plate.) — 

 Stem branched. Panicles elongated, loofe, drooping, many- 

 flowered. Petals divided half way ; their creft of two 

 linear lobes. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, acute, downy. — 

 Native of Portugal and Spain. The root is faid, in Hort. 

 Kew. to be biennial, though Hermann calls it perennial. 

 Stem one and a half or two feet high, ending in a long loofe 

 panicle of dro«)ping green Jloiuers. Leaves two or three 

 inches long, rough, like the reft of the herbage, with ex- 

 tremely minute tubercle;, and more or lefs of (hort hoary 

 hairs. Flowers like the laft, but fomewhat larger, and 

 furniflied with a crown, of which we can perceive no traces 

 in S. congtjla. 



S. nutans. Nottingham Catchfly. Linn. Sp. PI. 596. 

 Willd. n. II. Fl. Brit. n. 3. Engl. Bot. t. 465. Fl. 

 D.in. t. 242. (Lychnis fylveftris alba nona Clufii ; Ger. 

 Em. 470.) — Flower-ftalks panicled, drooping one way. 

 Petals in two deep hnear fegments ; their creft of two acute 



lobes. Leaves lanceolate, downy Native of dry lime- 



ftone paltures or rocks, in various parts of Europe, flower- 

 ing in June and July. It was firft, in this kingdom, ob- 

 ferved at Nottingham caftle, but grows alio at Dover, and 

 1 1 various 



