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SILENE Armeria.
Common or Lobel’s Catchfly.
/ y o
DECANDRIA Trigynia.
Gen. Char. Cal. swelling, of one leaf. Petals 5,
with claws. Caps, superior, imperfectly 3-celled,
bursting at the summit. Seeds many.
Spec. Char. Panicles forked, clustered, many-flowered.
Petals notched, crowned with sharp teeth. Upper
leaves heart-shaped, smooth.
Svn. Silene Armeria. Linn. Sp. P L 601. Sm. F I. B rit.
471. Huds. 189. With. 415. Hull. 98. F I. Dan.
t. 559.
Lychnis viscosa purpurea latifolia laevis. D ill, in
R a ii Syn. 341.
Muscipula Lobelii. Ger. em. 601.
T h e pretensions of this plant to a place in a British Flora
seem to us very slight. Dr. Richardson informed Dillenius
that it grew on the banks of the river half a mile below Chester,
but no one has confirmed his account, nor strengthened it by
finding the plant any. where else in Britain. We never saw
a British specimen, but have chosen a self-sown garden one,
which seems to exhibit the natural appearance of the species.
It is annual, flowering all July and August, and is commonly
cultivated in gardens for ornament, being very easily propagated
by seed.
Boot small. Herb destitute of pubescence. Stem 6 to 18
inches high, round, branched, leafy, marked with a brown
viscid ring under the upper joints, by which flies are caught,
for what particular purpose has scarcely been guessed. Leaves
opposite, sessile, entire, glaucous, very smooth, ovate or heart-
shaped. Flowers erect, red, inodorous, in a flat-topped,
forked, dense tuft, accompanied by small bracteas. Calyx
tubular, smooth, coloured, membranous, with 10 ribs and as
many teeth. Petals with long claws, an obcordate limb, and
2 erect sharp teeth. Capsule elliptical, placed on a long
footstalk. Seeds many.