270 
VISC ARIA OCULATA. 
drawing now furnished, last June, from plants in the possession of Messrs. Whitley 
and Osborne, Fulham. 
It is a very useful plant for beds in the flower-garden, or patches in a shrub- 
bery, where, from its wide-spreading and ramifying character, it soon forms a 
dense covering. Sown in autumn and kept in a dry part of the greenhouse through 
the winter, it makes a serviceable acquisition in early spring. It grows freely in 
any common garden soil, and will thrive in almost any situation ; it seems, how- 
ever, to succeed best in somewhat dry and sheltered places. 
The genus was separated from Lychnis by Koehler, and the name Viscaria , 
— founded on the Latin, mscus , birdlime — has reference to the adhesive, glutinous 
matter which covers the stems of some species. 
