CARYOPHYLLACE AE 2 1 5 



Plate 57. 



A. Silene undulata Ait. I. Small piece of plant in flower, with hawk moth, 

 Chaerocampa cajus. 2. Flower spread out, the calyx pulled down. 3. Petal with 

 appendage (corona). 4. Ripe capsule, showing the thecaphore. 5. Piece of stem, 

 enlarged, showing glandular hairs. 



B. Silene gallica L. 1. Plant. 2. Capsule and seeds. 



C. Silene Burchellii Otth 



D. Dianthus scaber Thunb. 



E. Cerastium capense Sond. 1. Plant. 2. Flower. 2/1. 



F. Stellaria media Cvrill., the chiclcweed. 1. Plant 2. Flower. 2/1. 



Silene. 



Silene undulata. Perennial, glandularly pubescent and aromatic, the stems 

 branching, 1 — 3 feet high, especially when growing among bushes; the leaves 

 broadly lanceolate with more or less undulate margins. Flowers white or 

 flushed with pink, opening at night but also in diffused daylight. The plant 

 is very similar to the European Silene noctiflora, but differs from it by its 

 undulate leaves and the much shorter thecaphore. 



The flowers are visited by various kinds of hawkmoths, e.g. Chaerocampa 

 cajus, as figured on plate. The caterpillar of this moth lives on the leaves of 

 the white arum (Zantedeschid) 



Found in south western Cape Colony only, while the nearly allied 

 Silene capensis is more widely spread. The latter possesses an unusually wide 

 range of altitude, being known from the plains as well as some of our highest 

 mountains, viz. the Zwartebergen, where Mr George Travers-Jackson found 

 it on the summit of the Toverkop. (7200 feet.) 



Silene Burchellii. This differs from the preceding species by its linear 

 or linear lanceolate leaves, the smaller flowers and the different calyx and 

 thecaphore, the petals being deeply bifid and flesh-coloured. The calyx is 

 clavate, 10-ribbed and sprinkled over with numerous red dots (glands). 

 A variable and widely distributed plant, flowering in spring. 



Silene gallica, the gunpowder iveed, is an annual. Frequent on waste 

 lands and cultivated grounds. 



Dianthus. To this genus belong the pinks and carnations, which in their 

 many garden varieties are principally derived from two European species, viz. 

 D. Caryophyllus and D. barbatus. Several of our South African species form 

 large tufts with numerous flowers, and would be equally suitable for the pro- 

 duction of more showy garden plants if improved by cultivation and hybridising. 



Dianthus scaber (Wild pink \ Anjelier). This is a comparatively small 

 species, and although nowhere common, it has a wide distribution, occurring 

 in rocky situations from Capetown to the Orange river. 



Cerastium capense is nearly allied to the common European C. arvense, 

 its ancestors having been probably introduced by migratory birds. It is not 

 confined to cultivated lands, but occurs on hills and mountains often far away 

 from human habitations, while Stellaria media, also a member of this family 

 and quite ubiquitous, is a weed of cultivation here as at home (Sterre muur). 



M. 28 



