,-ì.
SILÈNE regia.
Scarlet Catchfiy.
Linnean Class and Order. DECANDRIA TRIGYNIA.
Natural Order. CARYOPHYLLEÆ. Juss. gen. p. 299.
S IL E N E . Suprà fol. 54.
* Floribus erectis, calycibus longé clavatis.
S. regia, perennis, stricta, glanduloso-pubescens ; folds amplexicaulibus ovato-
lanceolatis acuminatis, floribus erectis paniculatis, calycibus longè tubulatis,
petalorum laminis lanceolatis acutis integris : appendiculis acutis dentatis,
genitalibus exsertis.
Silene regia. Sims in bot. mag. 1.1124. N utt. gen. \ . p. 288. Decand.prodr.
\.p .3 8 2 . O. Don. gen. syst.gard. ^ bot. I.p . 412.
A robust, perennial herb, with much of the habit of Lychnis
dioica, and thickly clothed with rusty glandular pubescence.
Stems erect, branched, 3 or 4 feet high, round, hollow, jointed.
Leaves opposite, sessile, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, the base
broad and embracing the stem, ribbed beneath, 3 inches long,
and an inch and a half broad. Flowers terminal, panicled,
erect, leafy. Peduncles singly or in threes, cylindrical, from
half an inch to an inch long. Calyx tubular, 10-ribbed,
clothed with rusty glandular pubescence, nearly an inch long,
rounded at the base, and terminated by 5, oblong, blunt,
erect, unequal teeth, membranous at the border. Petals 5;
claws cuneately oblong, rather longer than the calyx, greenish
white, with dilated membranous bordei’s ; lamina of a
rich scarlet, lanceolate, rather pointed, undivided, slightly
serrated at the apex, about as long as the claws ; coronary
appendages 2, short, erect, lanceolate, acute, toothed. Stamens
10, unequal, exserted.
Filaments awl-shaped, glabrous.
pale green, finely pubescent, united at the base.
Anthers
incumbent, oval-oblong, olive-green. Ovarium cylindrical,
3-celled, twice as long as the disk. Styles 3, awl-shaped,
VOL. IV . E