[ 23 05 ]
C H I R O N I A littoral^
D w a r f T u fted Centaury.
PENTJNDRIA Monogynia.
G en. Char. Cor. salver-shaped. Stamens inserted int<J
the tube. Anthers becoming spiral. Style declining.
Seed-vessel o f two indexed valves.
Spec. Char. Stems herbaceous, simple, straight.
Leaves linear-obovate. Calyx-teeth awlshaped.
Flowers densely corymbose, nearly sessile.
Syn. Chironia littoralis. Turn. Sg Dillw. Guide, 469.
Winch, v. 2 . pref. 3 .
Ch. pulchella. Don. Herb. JBrit.fasc. 1. 7 .
■ il l --------
W E are obliged to Mr. Winch for a fresh wild specimen
of this pretty Chironia, which we find no difficulty in admitting
as a new one, certainly distinct from those in our
t. 417 and 458, as well as from the varieties, or possibly
species, mentioned in FI. Brit. 1393. Mr. Brodie of Brodie
observed it on the sea coast in Elginshire, near his residence.
It is very abundant on Holy Island, and tlie neighbouring-
coast of Northumberland, flowering in June, much earlier
than Ch. Ceniaurium. Mrs. Dowson of Geldeston brought it
us from Wales.
The root is annual. Stems about two inches high, generally
solitary, sometimes accompanied by one or two smaller
ones, all stiff and straight, leafy at the top and bottom only.
Leaves obovate, narrow, obscurely three-nerved, nearly uniform.
Flowers large and handsome, with obtuse segments,
numerous, almost sessile, in a very dense forked corymbus.
Mr. Turner observes that the comparative proportions of the
calyx and tube of the corolla vary. The style is scarcely
declined in this species., though it is so in pulchella. The
anthers are twisted when old or dry.