MELANDRYUM 
73 
Stem , leaves and branches softly hairy (except in subvar. alpestre'). Stem simple or slightly 
branched, often straggling or decumbent. Laminae of basal leaves elliptical ; of stem-leaves broadly 
ovate, suddenly narrowed at base, soft, often drooping. Flowers in irregular clusters, shortly pedi- 
celled. Petals usually red-magenta. 
The usual form of the species. 
(/?) var. villosum subvar. alpestre Compton in Moss Camb. Brit. Ft. iii, 73; M. diurnum var. alpestre Fries ex 
Blytt Norg. FI. 1070(1876). 
Shoot completely glabrous. 
When crossed with the hairy plant, Fj is hairy ; and F 2 consists of hairy and glabrous plants in a ratio of about 3 to 1 
(Bateson and Saunders Reports Evol. Comm. Roy. Soc. i, 15 (1902)). 
(7) var. villosum subvar. villosissimum Compton in Moss Camb. Brit. Ft. iii, 73 ; M. sylvestre var. villosum 
Rouy et Foucaud op. cit. p. 97. 
Shoot densely hairy. 
St Arvans, near Chepstow, Monmouthshire (Morgan, in Herb. Mus. Brit.). 
(b) M. dioi’cum var. zetlandicum Compton in Moss Camb. Brit. Ft. iii, p. 73. 
Stem simple, very stout, erect, densely hairy. Petioles of the basal leaves narrow, broadening 
very suddenly to the laminae. Laminae of the basal leaves broadly elliptical ; of the stem-leaves 
broadly ovate or elliptical, soft and very downy on both surfaces. Bracts much larger than in var. 
villosum. Flowers in a dense subsessile terminal cluster and in the axils of the uppermost leaves, 
larger than in var. villosum. Petals of a darker purple. 
This is a very striking plant, looking very distinct from var. villosum ; but it is not so far known to breed true. 
Zetland — Noup of Noss (W. E. and H. Smith, Herb. Mus. Brit.), Green Holm, Scalloway (Straker, Herb. 
Mus. Brit.), Binnafirth, Unst, and Tetlar, Mid Yell (Beeby, herb. South Lond. Bot. Inst., no. 107 et no. iii), 
Unst (Tate, Herb. Univ. Cantab.). 
(c) *M. dioi’cum var. glaberrimum Compton in Moss Camb. Brit. FI. iii, p. 73 ; Lychnis diurna var. 
glaberrima Sekera ex Maly Enum. PL 310 (1848) nomen; L. presli Sekera Oest. Bot. Wochenbl. iii, 196 (1853); 
in Lotos iii, 133 (1853); M. presli Nyman Syll. Suppl. 41 (1865); M. rubrum var. glaberrimum Rohrbach in 
Linnaea xxxvi, 213 (1870). 
Exsiccata : — Sekera, in Herb. Kew, as Lychnis presli ; Miss A. Trower, in Herb. Kew, as L. presli. 
Differs from var. villosum in the following characters. Rhizome giving off numerous stiff, erect, 
and almost unbranched stems. Shoot more compact and bushy, completely glabrous. Petioles of 
the ground-leaves long, of the stem-leaves absent. Laminae of the ground-leaves elliptical-lanceo- 
late ; of the stem-leaves broadly oval, abruptly acuminate, standing out more stiffly than in var. 
villosum. Petals rather darker in colour. 
Near Tantallon Castle, Haddingtonshire (Miss A. Trower; see B.E.C. Rep. for 1911, iii, pt. i, p. 13 (1912)). 
Bohemia. 
Abundant over most parts of the British Isles ; a frequent constituent in oak woods, ash-oak 
woods, and ash woods where the soil is moist and fresh ; locally abundant in damp shady hedge- 
rows and on stream-banks ; avoiding both moors and fens ; preferring soils at least moderately rich 
in mineral salts ; demanding a greater degree of shade and a heavier rainfall than M. album ; absent 
or quite rare in and near Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire where the rainfall is low and the soils 
very dry in summer, and absent over considerable tracts of central Ireland; favouring hilly districts, 
but ceasing to be plentiful at about 300 m. though ascending to 850 m. in the Highlands in sheltered 
corries and niches. 
Faeroes, Scandinavia, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, central Europe (ascending 
to 2364 m. in the Tyrol), Russia, southern Europe (except southern Italy and Greece) ; northern 
Africa ; Asia ; North America (not indigenous). 
Section II. ELISA NTH E 
Elisanthe Fenzl in Endlicher Gen. PI. 972 (1841). 
For characters, see page 70. Only British species : — M. noctiflorum. 
3. MELANDRYUM NOCTIFLORUM. Night-flowering Catchfly. Plate 70 
Lychnis noctijlora Parkinson Theatr. Bot. 632 (1640); Ray Hist. 994 (1688); Syn. ed. 3, 340 (1724); L. 
frutescens noctiflora Morison PI. Hist, ii, 538, t. 20 (sect. 5), fig. 12 (1680). 
Melandryum noctiflorum Fries [in Bot. Notiser 170 (1842) as M'elanthium, transl. et emend.] in Flora 
M. III. 
IO 
