108 



THE PINK FAMILY. 



in loose terminal panicles. Calyx rather 

 more than half an inch long, becoming at 

 length almost globular, inflated and much 

 veined. Petals more or less deeply 2- 

 clefb, with a small scale at the base of 

 the lamina, which sometimes disappears 

 altogether. 



In fields, on banks, roadsides, and 

 waste places, throughout Europe and 

 Eussian and central Asia, extending -into 

 the Arctic regions and to high alpine 

 summits. Generally spread over Britain, 

 but not every common. FL all sum- 

 mer. A seacoast variety, with short dif- 

 fuse stems, thicker, more obtuse leaves, 

 and almost solitary flowers, has been dis- 

 tinguished as a species, under the name 

 of S. mariiima (Eng. Eot. t. 957). 



Fig. 132. 



3. Spanish Silene. Silene Otites, Sm. (Fig. 133.) 

 (Cucubalus, Eng. Bot. t. 85.) 



Perennial stock short and tufted, with 

 narrow leaves, as in the nodding S. ; the 

 stems simple, erect and stiff, with few 

 leaves, about a foot high. Elowers dioe- 

 cious, small and numerous, of a pale yel- 

 lowish green, arranged in lo^se, opposite 

 clusters, having the appearance of whorls, 

 and forming a long, narrow panicle. 

 Calyx scarcely 1| lines long. Petals 

 narrow and entire. Style and stamens 

 projecting beyond the flower. 



In sandy fields and pastures, in cen- 

 tral, southern, and especially eastern 

 Europe, and all across Eussian Asia, not 

 so common in western Europe, although 

 extending to the sandy shores of the 

 Atlantic. In Britain only in Norfolk, 

 Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire. Fl. sum- 



133. 



