G. muràlis, L. Annual, much branched; leaves very narrowly linear; flowers on slender pedicels, solitary in the forks; calyx turbinate, the teeth short, obtuse; petals purplish, crenate or emarginate.—Sparingly naturalized. (Nat. from Eu.)
3. SAPONÀRIA, L.
Calyx narrowly ovoid or oblong, 5-toothed, obscurely nerved, naked. Stamens 10. Styles 2. Pod 1-celled, or incompletely 2–4-celled at base, 4-toothed at the apex.—Coarse annuals or perennial, with large flowers. (Name from sapo, soap, the mucilaginous juice forming a lather with water.)
S. officinàlis, L. (Soapwort. Bouncing Bet.) Flowers in corymbed clusters; calyx terete; petals crowned with an appendage at the top of the claw; leaves oval-lanceolate.—Roadsides, etc. July–Sept.—A stout perennial, with large rose-colored flowers, commonly double. (Adv. from Eu.)
S. Vaccària, L. Annual, glabrous; flowers in corymbed cymes; calyx 5-angled, enlarged and wing-angled in fruit; petals pale red, not crowned; leaves ovate-lanceolate. (Vaccaria vulgaris, Host.)—Occasionally spontaneous. (Adv. from Eu.)
4. SILÈNE, L. Catchfly. Campion.
Calyx 5-toothed, 10–many-nerved, naked at the base. Stamens 10. Styles 3, rarely 4. Pod 1-celled, sometimes 3-celled at least at the base, opening by 3 or 6 teeth at the apex.—Flowers solitary or in cymes. Petals mostly crowned with a scale at the base of the blade. (Name from σίαλον, saliva, from the viscid exudation on the stems and calyx of many species. The English name Catchfly alludes to the same peculiarity.)
[*] Dwarf, alpine, tufted, smooth, perennial; flowering shoots 1-flowered.
1. S. acaùlis, L. (Moss Campion.) Tufted like a moss (1–2´ high); leaves linear, crowded; flowers almost sessile, or rarely on a naked peduncle; petals purple or rarely white, notched or entire, crowned.—Alpine summits of the White Mountains, N. H. July. (Eu.)
[*][*] Calyx bladdery-inflated; perennial; flowers panicled, white, in summer.