LYCH NIS FLOS JOVIS. 
UMBELLATE ROSE CAMPION. 
Class. Order. 
DECANDR1A. PENTAGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
CARYOPHYLLE®. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Cultivated 
Germany. 
2 feet. 
July. 
Perennial. 
in 1726. 
No. 397. 
The term Lychnis, from the Greek lychnos, a 
lamp, perhaps, arose from wicks having been made 
of the woolly leaves of the original Lychnis. The 
name, Flos Jovis, or Jove’s flower, seems somewhat 
too important. Its use has, however, been sanctified 
by time. It was applied by the old botanists, whose 
reasons for its adoption, had, probably, a reference 
to some mythological fiction which has escaped from 
tradition, as its author has from existence. 
This plant was formerly known as the Agro- 
stemma flos Jovis. The difference between the 
genera Agrostemma and Lychnis, which was prin- 
cipally founded on the division of the petals, and 
number of the cells of the capsule, has been found 
so anomalous, that it has been thought best to 
unite these genera under Lychnis. 
We are glad to introduce this old favourite to the 
notice of the present generation, for it seems either 
to have escaped observation, or to have met with 
unmerited neglect. 
It is perfectly hardy. It may be raised from 
seeds; divided; or struck from cuttings of the flower 
stem before they begin to flower. 
100 * Hort. Kew. 2, v. 3, 132. 
