VISCARIA 
69 
2. VISCARIA ALPINA. Alpine Campion. Plate 67 
Viscaria alpina G. Don Gen. Syst. Gard. i, 415 (1831); Rouy et Foucaud FI. France iii, 100 (1896); 
Lychnis alpina L. Sp. PI. 436 (1753)!; Smith in Trans. Linn. Soc. x, 342 (1811)!; Eng. Bot. no. 2254 (1811); 
Syme Eng. Bot. ii, 73 (1864). 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 2254, as Lychnis alpina ; FI. Dan. t. 65, as Lychnis alpina ; Bot. Mag. t. 394, 
as Lychnis alpina ; Svensk Bot. t. 693, as Lychnis alpina ; Reichenbach Icon, vi, t. 307, fig. 5 1 30, as Lychnis alpina. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 67. { a ) Plant in flower. Hort., origin Switzerland (E. W. H.). ( b ) Plant in flower. 
(c) Plant in fruit. (d) Petals (enlarged). ( e ) Ovary. (/) Capsules. Forfarshire (E. S. M.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 1621, 1621 bis, as Viscaria alpina ; Fellman, 36, as Lychnis alpina\ Fiori {FI. Ital. 
Exsicc.), 812, as L. alpina ; Fries, ix, 35, as L. alpina (“ cfr. v. petraeam, H.N., iv ”) ; iv, 49, as L. alpina var. 
subacaidis ; Huter {FI. Exsicc. Austr.-Hung.), 520, as L. alpina ; Macoun {Herb. Geol. and Nat. Hist. Surv. Canada), 
266; Reichenbach, 1798, as L. alpina. 
Perennial. Rhizome short, giving off basal rosettes of leaves. Stem simple, erect, usually 
high (less in forma frigida , and may reach 30 cm. in forma laxa), bearing about 3 pairs 
of leaves. Stem glabrous, not viscid. Leaves of the basal rosettes linear, about 4 cm. 
long and o’4 broad, with a few marginal cilia ; of the stem, linear or linear-lanceolate, 
up to about 2 cm. long and o'3 broad. Inflorescence a dense terminal head of crowded 
axillary cymes, or somewhat elongated in f. laxa. Bracts ovate-lanceolate, ciliate. 
Peduncles and pedicels usually short (cf. f. laxa), 3 — 7 flowered. Flowers — June and 
July. Calyx campanulate, 5 -nerved, the sutural nerves lacking or represented only by 
an occasional branch of the main nerves ; teeth ovate, obtuse ; persistent in fruit. Petals 
with unwinged claws, bifid limbs, and 2 small gibbous coronal ligules. Stigmas ? 3 — 5. 
Gynophore short. Capsule globose, much longer than the gynophore. Seeds 00 , small, 
flat on the back. 
First noticed as a British plant by George Don in 1795. 
The differences between the plants from the Lake District and from Clova would seem almost certainly 
to be due to differences in habitat. 
Map 30. 
(a) forma laxa Compton in Moss Camb. Brit. FI. iii, p. 69 ; V. alpina var. laxa Rouy et Distribution 
Foucaud FI. France iii, 101 (1896). of V. alpina in 
Great Britain 
Stem up to 30 cm. in height, with long internodes. Peduncles long. 
The plants from the Lake District (Lancashire and Cumberland) show a tendency towards this forma ; on 
rock-ledges, somewhat difficult of access. 
(/3) forma frigida Compton in Moss Camb. Brit. FI. iii, p. 69 ; Lychnis frigida Schrank Denkschr. Bot. Ges. 
ii, 25 (1818); V. alpina var. frigida Rouy et Foucaud loc. cit. 
Shoot dwarf and tufted. Inflorescence small, very dense. Flowers subsessile. 
The plants from Clova, Forfarshire, show a tendency towards this forma (cf. Plate 68 b — f) : it is here 
a scanty constituent of the plant-community of mountain-top detritus. 
V. alpina is a rare British plant in danger of extinction by collectors ; the Lake District — 
Lancashire (800 m.) and Cumberland (600 m.) ; Scotland — Forfarshire (1000 m.). 
Iceland, Norway, Scandinavia, France (Alps and Pyrenees), central Europe (ascending to 
2700 m. in the Tyrol), Ural mountains, Spain, Italy; Asia; North America (Labrador, Quebec, 
and Mexican Andes), Greenland. 
Tribe VI. SILENEAE 
Sileneae Reichenbach Handb. Natiirl. Pflanzen. 298 (1837). 
For characters, see page 14. 
5 — 10 cm. 
British genera of Sileneae 
Genus 14. Melandryum (p. 70). Calyx more or less inflated, not membranous, with 5 
primary and 5 sutural veins. Petals twisted in bud. Gynophore very short. Stigmas 3 — 8, usually 5 
and antisepalous. Capsule without persistent septa. 
Genus 15. Silene (p. 74). Calyx usually narrow, fitting close to the fruit, with 10 — 60 veins, 
veins anastomosing or not. Petals twisted in bud. Gynophore short. Stigmas 3. Fruit dry, 
with persistent septa below. 
