Scarlet Lychnis, Maltese cross, Lychnis chalcedonica, Naturalized Minnesota Wildflower plant, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Maltese cross	Lychnis chalcedonica L.	Pink (Caryophyllaceae)	Formerly Upland, Not Extant	Late June to Early July
Other names and notes	(Scarlet Lychnis.) The brilliant flowers, each no more than an inch wide, appear in a dense cluster at the top of a solitary stem. The flower petals are very deeply cleft, the sepals are united in the form of a tube. Leaves are egg shaped or broadly lance-shaped with one main rib, opposite and entire. The stem is hairy and very leafy. Lychnis is Green for lamp and chalcedonica refers to "of Chalcedon" - an old city in Turkey.


Above: Typical flower cluster atop the stem. Below: Stems are very leafy with the opposite, untoothed leaves.	Above and below: Photos from early July 1999, one of the last years the plant grew in the Upland Garden.

Below: Two dense clusters of flowers growing on separate stems. Note the hair on the cluster.

Notes: Eloise Butler's records show that she planted seeds of this species on Sept. 30, 1915 by the Garden entrance and near Old Monarch - the aged white oak. Martha Crone reported planting seeds and 40 plants in 1948. It was growing in the Upland into the early 2000's, then died out and has not been replanted as it is not a native Minnesota plant. It is not native to North America but has become naturalized across the northern tier of states from Idaho/Montana to the east coast and the lower Canadian Provinces of the same latitudes. It has been found in naturalized locations in Minnesota only in St. Louis and Chisago Counties.

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References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 15, 16, 30, 31, 33, W2 & W3. Distribution principally from W2 and also 31, 34 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.

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