[ 4«s ]
S I LENE nutans.
Nottingham Catch-fly.
D E C A N D R I A Trigynia.
Gen. Char. CaL fwelling. Petals with daws,
and with a crown at the mouth. Capf. three-
celled.
Spec. Char. Petals cloven. Lateral flowers drooping,
all towards one fide. Panicle drooping.
Syn. Silene nutans. Linn. Sp. PI. 596. Hudf. 188.
With. 4 1 3 , FI. Dan. t. 2 4 2 .
L y c h n is fylveftris alba 9 C lu fii. Raii Syn. 340.
Ger. em. 470. Deeding Nott. 137.
w E received th is from N o ttin g h am Ca ftle by fav o u r o f Mr.
O rd o y n o . I t loves a lim e -fto n e foil, an d was obferved upon
rocks in th e b ed o f the riv e r D o v e , D e rb y fh ire , by M r . Woodw
a rd ; a n d n e a r N o r th Q u e en ’s-fe rry , fo r th e firft tim e we believe
in S c o tla n d , by M r. J . M a ck ay in 1793. I t is perennial,,
a n d flowers in J u n e an d Ju ly .
S tem s feveral, Ample, bowed a t th e ba fe, th e n e re c t, a foot
o r m ore in h e ig h t, leafy, jo in te d , ro u n d , downy, vifcid in the
u p p e r p a rt, te rm in a tin g in a fo rk ed p a n ic le , th e fum m it and
b ran ch e s o f w h ic h all d roop tow a rd s o n e flde. L eav es entire
p o in te d , d ow n y , o f a palifh g re en , la n c e o la te ; th e radical ones
in c lin in g to o bova te , an d fo rm in g th ick tu fts . Flow e rs nodd
in g , w h ite , o f a d e lic ate tex tu re . Calyx obovate, membranous
w ith te n g re en rib s, d ow n y , b u t n o t ve ry rema rkably fo*
fom e tim e s p u rp lifli, as are ve ry g en era lly th e lo n g footftalks of
th e leaves a t th e ir in fe rtio n , a n d th e bafe o f th e item . Petals
e x p an d in g in th e evening, very de eply cloven, c row n ed with a
lh a rp cloven p ro je c tio n b e tw e en th e ir fegments. Five o f the
ftam in a p ro je c tin g , th e o th e r 5 fh o rte r th a n th e claws o f the
p e ta ls, to w h ich th e y a re m o re p a rticu la rly a tta ch ed . Styles
v a ry in g in len g th . Seeds ru g g e d , n um e ro u s.
T h e D o v e r Catchfly, Rail Syn. 340. 12, fo lo n g m iftak en for
C u cu b a lu s vifcofus Linn. , ha s o f la te been re fe rre d to this
fpecies o f S ile n e ; b u t we have re afo n to th in k it S. paradoxa.
O n th is p o in t h ow ev e r w e do n o t abfolutely decide till we can
obtain fre lh wild fpe cimens from Dove r.