north.—Stems arising many from the same perennial root, scaly below, slightly downy, rounded, angled
above. The leaves, when seen under a microscope, are hairy with very short pubescence, and the edges are
decidedly scabrous with little, rigid setae pointing forward. Flower pale, greenish white. Capsule orbicular,
scarcely notched, slightly compressed, containing two large, black, dotted, hairy seeds, having a broad white
caruncle at the hilum. Dr. Bigelow has well described this species in his Florula of Boston, and has
detailed its medical properties and history in his valuable American “ Medical Botany.”
5. P . poly garnet; cristata, racemis terminalibus pedunculatis laxis, alis ovalibus patenti-
bus petala aequantibus obtusissimis, foliis alternis lineari-lanceolatis glabris superioribus
cuspidatis, caulibus erectis, aliis brevissimis radicalibus sub subterraneis apetalis. (Tab.
XX IX.)—Walt. FI. Carol, p. 179. Pursh, FI. Am. v. 2. p. 181. Nutt. Gen. Am. v. 2. p.
75. Elliott, Carol, v. 2. p. 181. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p. 330.— P. rubella. Willd. Sp. PI. v.
3. p . 875. Pursh, FI. Am. v. 2. p. 464. Bigel. FL Bost. ed. 2. p. 264, “ Med. Bot. t. 54.”
De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p . 330.
Radix gracilis, sublignosa, perennis? descendens, ramosa. Caules nunc solitarii, nunc plurimi ex
eadem radice, erecti, angulati, glabri, palmares ad spithamsei, simplices, virgati, foliati. Folia alterna, erecta,
seu erecto-patentia, unciam vel sesquiunciam longa, lineari-lanceolata, adulta subcoriacea, basi paululum
attenuate, inferiora subpetiolata, obtusissima, reliqua sessilia, superiora magis angusta, apice acutissima mu-
cronulata, etiam cuspidata. Racemi solitarii, terminales, pedunculati, laxi, unciam vix duas uncias longi. Pedi-
ceUi breves, graciles, patentes, demum recurvati, ad basin bractea minutissima suffulti. Flores carneo-rosei,
mediocres. Calyx; sepalis exterioribus minutis, ovalibus, viridibus, erectis, 2 interioribus seu alis, petala
aequantibus, late obovatis, obtusissimis, patentibus, pallide roseis. Carina purpurea, cristata.—Ad basin
caulium alii racemi adsunt, pedunculati, sub-subterranei, pedunculis squamosis; floribus apetalis, vel petalis
valde minutis instructis, quorum capsules omnino ut in racemis caulinis, sed sessilibus, late ovatis, com-
pressis, truncatis.
Had. Upper Canada. Mr. Goldie. About Lake Huron. Mr. Todd.—The correctness of Mr. Nuttall,
in uniting the P. rvbeUa of Willdenow with the P. polygama of Walter, can, I believe, scarcely be called
in question. The species is a very remarkable one, in many respects, as Pursh observes of his P. rubella,
approaching to P. vulgaris. From the base of the main stems there proceed short stalks, from two to four
inches long, bearing a raceme of flowers, which buries itself slightly in the earth. The uppermost blossoms
are exceedingly imperfect, and abortive; the lower flowers of the raceme have petals, and perhaps calycine
sepals, so altered as to represent a few small scales around a germen, which, to all appearance, comes
to perfection and bears seeds. In some of the many specimens I have received from Dr. Boott, the racemes
in question are upon leafy stalks, but this is by no means usually the case; others, though more rarely, have
the upper flower of the perfect stem apetalous.
Tab. XXIX. Plant:—natural size. Fig. 1, Flower; fig. 2, The keel; fig. 3, Raceme, which arises from
the base of the stem; fig. 4, Capsule, do.; fig. 5, Capsule, from the perfect raceme:—magnified.
Sect. III. Chamasbuxus. Dill. Calycis sepalum inferius concavo-cucuUatum intus ad
basin glandidam fovens. CoroUce carina suberistata awt apice callosa. Flores pauci,
magni. Herbce awt suffrvtices. DC.
6. P . paucifolia; floribus ternis terminalibus, carina cristata, foliis ovatis petiolatis,
caule simplici basi decumbente inferne nudo squamigero.— Willd. Sp. PI. p. 880. Pursh,
FI. Am. v. 2. p . 464. Elliott, Carol, v. 2. p. 180. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p . 330. Bigel. FI.
Bost. ed. 2. p . 267. Hook, in Bot. Mag. t. 2852. Rich, in Frankl. ls£ Joum. ed. 2. App.
p. 27.—P. purpurea. Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. 4. p. 244. (non Nutt.)
Hab. Plains of Canada, as far north as the Saskatchawan. Mr. Goldie; Dr. Richardson; Mr. Blair;
(in Bot. Mag.) Douglas; Drummond; Dr. Todd.—This most beautiful species is now cultivated in the
gardens of this country.
7. P. uniflora; “ herbacea pumila, foliis latis ovalibus in petiolum angustatis, floribus
imberbibus solitarie sparsis pedicellatis.”—Mich. Am. v. 2. p . 52. Pursh, FI. Am. v. 2. p.
464. De Cand. Prodr. v. 1. p . 330.—P. paucifolia, var. ? Nutt. Gen. Am. v. 2. p . 87.
Hab. Borders of Canada, about Lake Ontario. Michaux. Islands in Lake Erie, rare. Douglas; 1823.__
This plant I have never seen. Nuttall doubts if it be distinct from P. pauciflora; but then it must be
incorrectly described by Michaux, who says that the keel is not crested, and that the flowers are solitary and
scattered. De Candolle has only seen a specimen without inflorescence.
Ord. XV. C A R Y O P H Y L L E iE . Juss.
T rib. I. Sileneje. DC. (Cary ophy lleas. Lam.) Sepala coalita in tiibum cylindraceum
apice 4>-5-dentatum. DC.
1. DIANTHUS. Linn.
Cal. tubulosus 5-dentatus, basi squamis 2-4 oppositis imbricatis. Pet. 5 longe unguicu-
lata. Siam. 10. Styli 2. Caps. 1-locularis. Semina compressa hinc convexa inde con-
cava, peltata. Embryo vix curvatus. DC.
Sect. Caryophyllum. Ser. DC. Flores paniculati vel solitarii. DC.
1. D. repens; caule unifloro, squamis calycinis binis ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis
calyce paulo brevioribus, foliis linearibus glabris.— WiUd. Sp. PI. v :2 . p . 681. De Cand.
Prodr. v. 1. p. 358. Cham, et Schlecht. in Linncea, v. 1. p. 37.
H ab. Bay of Eschscholtz. Chamisso. Kotzebue’s Sound, in the same Bay. Lay and Collie in Capt.
Beechey's Collection.—This is probably the only species of Dianthus that is really a native of North
America, and which shows the affinity of the vegetation of the North-West Coast with that of Siberia in the
same latitude, where the present species was originally discovered. D. Armeria, enumerated in the Floras
of the United States, is allowed by all to be introduced, and the D. carolinianus of Walter is a very dubious
plant, with which no one seems to have been acquainted but Walter himself. Neither Capt. Beechey’s
specimens of D. repens, nor those communicated to me by Chamisso, nor the individuals in Willdenow’s
own Herbarium, according to the last mentioned author, possess a creeping root: on the contrary, one
which descends deep into the earth, and bears on its summit many stems.
2. SILENE. Linn.
Cal. tubulosus, 5-dentatus, nudus. Pet. 5, unguiculata, fauce saepissima coronata,
limbo bifido. Siam. 10. Styli 3. Capsules basi triloculares, apice in 6 dentes de-
hiscentes. DC.
Sect. I . N anosilene. Otth. MSS. Ccespitosm. Caules fere nulli. Calyx subinflatus.
Pedunculi uniflori. DC.
1. S. acaulis; caulibus densissime caespitosis humilibus, foliis linearibus basi ciliatis
pedunculis solitariis brevibus unifloris, calycibus campanulatis, petalis obcordatis coronatis.