Zo 6 [ 573 ]
L Y C H N I S Flos-Cucüli.
Meadow Lychnis, or Ragged Robin.
D E C A N D R I A Pentagynia.
G e n . C h a r . Cal. of one leaf, oblong. Petals 5,
with claws; their limb moftly divided. Cap/.
fuperior, opening with 5 teeth, of 1 or 5 cells.
S p e c . C h a r . Petals four-cleft. Fruit roundith, o f
one cell.
S y n . Lychnis Flos-Cuculi. Linn. Sp. P I. 625. Hud/.
199. With. 4 3a . R elb. 17 7 . S ik h . 14 5 . Abbot.
100. Curt. Lond. fa fc . x. t. 33,
L . plumaria fylveftris fnnplex. Rati Syn. 3 3 8 .
J ? R E Q U E N T in moift meadows, flowering early in June,
when its pretty delicate petals are feen quivering to every
breeze; but the mower’s fcythe foon levels them in the undif-
tjnguilhed heap of meadow hay.
Root fibrous, perennial. Stem ereft, one or two feet high,
angular, leafy, roughifh with little briftles that point downwards
; clammy in the upper p a rt; fometimes branched at
the bafe, and the-branches often take root at their joints.
Leaves united at their infertion, lanceolate, entire, nearly
fmooth. Panicle forked, ereft, with a pair of fmall leaves or
bra&eae at each fubdivifion. Calyx tubular, with ten ftrong
dark-purple ribs. Petals rofe-coloured, flaccid, cut into four
linear fegments, and crowned with two fharp ereft teeth above
the claw. Capfule of a roundifh cylindrical figure, with but
one cell. The feeds are numerous, each Handing on a little
footftalk, round a central receptacle.
A variety with double flowers, whofe petals are extremely
numerous and thickly fet, is common in gardens, and the
flowers are faid to be fometimes found white.