89 



SILENE PURPUREA. 



{Purple Silene.) 



LINNEAN SYSTEM. NATURAL ORDER. 



DECANDRIA TRIGYNIA. CARYOPHYLLE^E. — (JllSS.) 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Silene (Lin.) Calyoc tubulosus, 5-dentatus, nudus. Petala 5-unguieulata, fauce szepissime 

 coronata, limbo bifido. Stamina 10. Styli 3. Capsulce basi 3-loculares apice in 6 dentes 

 dehiscentes. 



Calyx tubulose, 5-toothed, naked. Petals five-clawed, throat very oftentimes crowned with, 

 an appendage, limb divided. Stamens ten. Styles three. Capsules three-celled at the base, 

 dehiscing at the apex into six teeth. — Be Cand. Prod. vol. 1, p. 367. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



S. purpurea ; glauca, ramosa ; foliis radicalibus lanceolatis sub-spathulatis, superioribus 

 ovatis lanceolatis basi connatis ; floribus longe pedunculatis, congestis, purpureis ; calycibus 

 longissimis clavatis ; bracteis scariosis. 



Glaucous, branched, root leaves lanceolate, somewhat spathulate, upper ones ovate-lanceolate, 

 joined at the base ; flowers on long peduncles, crowded, purple ; calyxes very long, club-shaped ; 

 bracts skinny. 



Silene compacta. — Fisch. Be Cand. Prod. vol. 1, p. 384. 



Descr. — Annual, growing to the height of about three feet, covered with a glaucous hue, 

 branched towards the top, where the colour assumes a livid purple, more or less intense. Leaves 

 at the base lanceolate, approaching to spathulate, acute. The upper ones ovate lanceolate, 

 connate at the base, and may be called perfoliate ; they gradually decline in length as they 

 ascend the stem, and become broader in proportion. Stipules none. Peduncles very long, of a 

 purplish colour. Flowers in dense heads, on short pedicels. Petals purple, lanceolate, crenate, 

 appendages subulate. Calyxes purple, smooth, striated. 



This is a beautiful annual, and worthy of general cultivation as an ornamental 

 and free-flowering plant, which enlivens the gardens from the beginning of June 

 until the end of August. 



When we first saw this plant, we took it for a species not described by De 

 Candolle in his Prodromus, nor by any other author whose writings we were 

 acquainted with, and in consequence we gave it the specific name Purpurea, in 

 reference to its dark-coloured flowers ; these, however, vary a good deal, and our 

 VOL. i. n 



