/& (o [ 957 _ ]
SILENE maritima.
Sea Campion.
DECANDR1A Trigyniai
Gen. Char. Cal. fwelling, o f one leaf. Petals 5,
with claws. Cap/, fuperior, imperfectly 3 -celled»
burning at the fummit. Seeds many.
Spec. Char. Flowers moftly folitary, terminal.
Petals cloven, crowned at the mouth. Calyx
fmooth, reticulated with veins. Stems proftrate
at the bafe.
Syn. Silene maritima. W ith. 4 1 4 . Sm. FI. B r it. 468.
Hull. 98.
S. amcena. Hud/. 18 8 . L igh t/. 2 2 7 .
Cucubalus Behen /3. Linn. Sp. PI. 5 9 1 .
Lychnis maritima repens. Rail Syn. 3 3 7 .
A b u n d a n t o n th e fea fliore b o th in fandy an d rocky
plac es, flowering in A u g u ft an d S ep tem b e r. O u r fpecimen
was fen t b y M r . W . B o rre r from Suflex. L ik e fome other
m a ritim e p lan ts i t is alfo tru ly a lp in e , flourifhing in th e ftony
beds o f m o u n ta in to rren ts. H a v in g cultivated it feveral years
in various foils, an d propagated it by feed, we c an now {peak
to its c e rta in ty as a lp e c ie s ; indeed few p lan ts va ry lels in
h a b it, th o u g h in th e n um b e r o f its ftyles, a n d th e ir corre -
fp o n d in g fru it-c e lls, i t varies (u n fo rtu n a te ly for th e L in n lean
artificial fyftem) from 3 , th e prevailing n um b e r, to 4 or 5.
T h e petals a re c o n ftan tly crowned a t th e ir b a f e ; a c irc um -
ftanc e w h ic h fom etime s, th o u g h ra re ly , occurs in Silene inflata
FI. Brit., figured u n d e r th e L in n a e an n am e o f Cucubalus Behen
in o u r 1.1 6 4 ; an d w h ich proving in fome o th e r cafes n o t to be
relied o n , we have n ow fet afide as a g en eric c h a ra c te r.
• T h e p la n t before u s h a s a c re ep in g p e ren n ia l ro o t, man y
p ro ftra te leafy ftem s, whofe e x trem itie s o n ly grow u p rig h t,
a n d w h ic h te rm in a te in a han d fome w h ite flower, generally
fo lita ry , fometime s accomp an ied b y 1 o r 2 m o r e ; b u t th e
ftem n ev er be ars fo m a n y flowers as in S. inflata, n e ith e r is
th e capfule fo lo n g as in th a t fpecies. I n th e leaves a n d calyx
th e re is a confiderable a ffinity b e tw e en th e two.