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S I L E N E nodiflora.
Night-flowering Catchfly.
/ b y
D E C A N D R I A Trigynla.
Gen. Char. Cal. fwelling. Petals 5, with elaws, and
with a crown at the mouth. Capf. three-celled.
Spec. Char, Calyx with ten angles, and teeth as long
as its tube. Stem forked. Petals cloven.
S y n . Silene nodiflora. Linn. Sp. P I. 599. HudJ. FI.
A n. 189. With. Bot. A r r . 4 5 2 . Relb. Cant. Supfl
1, 1 3 , Sibth. Ox. 140.
Lychnis nodiflora. R a il Syn. 340,
I n fandy fields o f th e midland an d fo u th e rn counties, not
ra re in N o rfo lk and Suffolk, flowering a b o u t j u ly .
R o o t a n n u a l, fmall in p ro p o rtio n to the h e rb , w h ich often
becomes ve ry lu x u ria n t in a m an u red foil. Stem e r e f t, round,
h a iry , leafy, rep ea ted ly fo rk ed in th e u p p e r p a rt. Leaves foft
an d d ow n y , lan c eo la te , feflile, th e lower ones b ro a d e it, and the
loweft obovate. F low e rs folita ry a t th e divifions of the ftem,
o n h a iry vifeid ftalks, w h ich a re fh o rt a t firft, b u t afterwards
len g th e n ed o u t to about an in ch . Calyx w h ite , with green
angle s an d v e in s, its te e th almoft as lo n g as th e tubular part.
P g ta ls o f a c re am co lo u r tin g e d w ith re d , th e ir limb rolled in
d u rin g th e day, b u t u n fo ld in g in th e evening, and then the
flowers become ve ry fw e et-fe en ted , a t lea ft wh ile w a rm weather
c o n tin u e s. W e believe e ach flower lafts feveral days, the petals
ro llin g themfelve s up every ev en in g till th e im p reg n a tio n is fully
accomplifhed. I f fo, h ow is th is invo lu tio n pe rfo rm ed ? Does
th e a c tio n o f lig h t u p o n th e u p p e r furface o f e ach pe ta l ftimu-
la te th a t fu rfac e to c o n tr a f t ? T h e p h e n om e n a o f fu ch flowers
as ex p an d o r fmell only by n ig h t, deferve th e a tte n tio n of the
phyfiologift, fo r th ey are ru le d b y very c o n fta n t laws. ^ We recomm
en d th em to th e evening m ed itatio n s o f th e philofophic
re c lu fe , a t “ th a t b e ft h o u r o f m ufing” w h e n th e m in d turns ts
N a tu re a n d its A u th o r w ith p e cu lia r complacency.