82 
CUCUBALUS 
I. CUCUBALUS BEHEN. Bladder Campion. Plate 79 
Behen album Gerard Herball 550 (1597)?; B. album hispidum Merrett Pinax 14 (1666) [= var. pubescens] ; Lychnis 
sylvestris quae ben album vulgo C. Bauhin Pinax 205 (1671) ; Ray Syn. ed. 3, 337 (1724). 
Cucubalus behen L. Sp. PL |4 1 4 (1753) excl. var. / 3 ; Hudson FI. Angl. 163 (1762); Miller Gard. Diet. 
ed. 8, no. 4 (1768) incl. C. latifolius and C. angustifolius ; Smith Eng. Bot. no. 164 (1794); C. venosus Gilibert 
FI. Lituan. iv, 165 (1782) nomen abortivum ; Behen vulgaris Moench Meth. PI. 709 (1794); C. inflatus Salisbury 
Prodr. 302 (1796) nomen abortivum; Silene cucubalus Wibel Prim. FI. Wertham. 241 (1799); S', inflata Smith FI. 
Brit. 467 (1800)!; Syme Eng. Bot. ii, 56 (1864); S. venosa Ascherson FI. Prov. Brandenb. 86 (1864); S. cucubalus 
race vesicaria Rouy et Foucaud FI. France iii, 103 (1896); S'. latifolia Rendle and Britten in Journ. Bot. xlv, 100 
(1907) non Poiret. 
leones : — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 164, as Cucubalus behen ; FI. Dan. t. 914, as C. behen ; Reichenbach Icon. t. 299 et 
t. 300, fig. 5 1 20, as S. inflata. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 79. (a) Lower part of shoot. ( b ) Flowering shoot, (c) Capsules. Isle of 
Wight (E. W. H.). (d) Flowering shoot, (e) Lower leaves. Cambridgeshire (E. W. H.). d and e = var. pubescens. 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 1620, as S. inflata ; Daveau {Herb. Lusit.), as S. inflata ; Dickson xix, 3; Ehrhart 
{PI. Off.), 454 ; Huter, iii, 497, as S. inflata ; Herb. FI. Ingric. i, 44, as S. inflata. 
Perennial. Shoot glabrous or pubescent, subglaucous. Branches terete, ascending or straggling. 
Leaves sessile, lower ones oblong or oblong-obovate, upper ones narrowly ovate, subobtuse to acute, 
up to about 7‘5 cm. long and 3 ‘3 broad. Inflorescence dichasial, main lateral branches usually with 
3 — 11 flowers. Pedicels 2 — 3 times as long as the calyx. Bracts membranous. Flowers sometimes 
more or less dioecious and zygomorphic, about 1*5 to 2‘o cm. in diameter, appearing about a 
month later than those of C. maritimus ; early June to September. Calyx large, broadly elliptical, 
inflated, rather membranous, reticulate, up to about 1*5 cm. long and 1 broad; tube large; teeth 
small, broadly triangular, submucronate, about 2 — 3 mm. long and rather broader at the base. 
Petals white, pale yellowish, or rarely purplish, comparatively small though variable in size and 
shape, deeply bifid, claw winged at the sides, coronal scales absent. Stamens exserted. Gynophore 
stout, rather shorter than the ovary. Ovary green, about 4 mm. long. Stigmas nearly 2’o cm. long. 
Capsule inflated ; teeth small. Seeds rather more than 1 mm. in diameter, with acute concentric 
tubercles ; aril black, well developed. 
British forms vary a great deal in hairiness, in the width of the leaves, and in the size and shape of the petals. Most 
or all of the varieties of C. maritimus (see p. 84) seem to have their analogues under C. behen. The form named Silene 
brachiata by Jordan in Boreau FI. Centr. France ed. 3, ii, 94 (1857) has been recorded for Berkshire by Mr Druce (in 
Journ. Bot. xliii, 17 (1905)). 
Dr F. Buchanan White (in Journ. Bot. viii, 323 (1870)) examined 15 flowers of this species: 5 were monoclinous, 6 pistillate, 
. 3 staminate, and 1 with a tendency towards the last condition. In every staminate flower, and in those alone, the anthers 
were filled with spores of Ustilago. 
{a) C. behen var. vulgaris comb. nov. ; Silene inflata var. vulgaris [Otth. ms. ex] DC. Prodr. i, 368 (1824); 
5 . inflata var. genuina Grenier et Godron FI. France i, 202 (1848); Syme Eng. Bot. ii, 56 (1864); S', cucubalus 
race vesicaria var. genuina Rouy et Foucaud FI. France iii, 104 (1896) incl. var. latifolia. 
Shoot less glaucous than in var. pubescens , glabrous. Seeds black. 
This is the common form of the species in the British Isles. 
{b) C. behen var. pubescens comb. nov. ; Silene inflata var. pubescens DC. FI. Franq. iv, 747 (1805); Cucubalus 
inflatus var. hirsutus Gray Nat. Arr. Br. Plants ii, 645 (1821); S', puberula Jordan ex Boreau FI. France 94 (1857) ; 
S', inflata var. puberula Syme Eng. Bot. ii, 56 (1864); S. cucubalus race vesicaria var. pubescens Rouy et Foucaud 
FI. France iii, 105 (1896). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 4003. 
Shoot more glaucous than in var. vulgaris , very hairy below the uppermost internode of the 
stem. Seeds grey. 
Not uncommon on strongly calcareous soils where it occurs mixed with var. vulgaris and with intermediates: 
the latter are perhaps hybrids of the two varieties. Recorded for many counties in the south of England, 
northwards to Cambridgeshire and Flintshire. 
{c) *C. behen var. angustifolius comb, nov.; C. angustifolius Miller Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 3 (1768); C. mari- 
timus Lamarck l. c., partim ; Silene inflata var. angustifolia DC. FI. Franq. iv, 747 (1805); S. angustifolia Gussone 
FI. Sic. Prodr. i, 500 (1827). 
