lychnis

American  

[lik-nis] / ˈlɪk nɪs /

noun

1. any showy-flowered plant belonging to the genus Lychnis, of the pink family.

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lychnis British  

/ ˈlɪknɪs /

noun

1. any caryophyllaceous plant of the genus Lychnis, having red, pink, or white five-petalled flowers See also ragged robin

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Etymology

Origin of lychnis

1595–1605; < Latin < Greek lychnís red flower, akin to lýchnos lamp

Example Sentences

The scarlet lychnis and its many varieties are nearly past, but the large-flowered, Haag's, and others of that section, are in their prime, and showy plants they are.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 299, September 24, 1881 by Various

Geranium, lychnis, rose array'd    The windows, all wide open thrown; And some one in the Study play'd    The Wedding-March of Mendelssohn.

From Angel in the House by Patmore, Coventry Kersey Dighton

Beds of poppies, hollyhocks, scarlet lychnis, and the most flaming flowers, border the edge of the walks, which extend till the perspective meets, and swarm with ladies and gentlemen in parti-coloured raiment. 

From Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents by Beckford, William

Pink lychnis flowers behind the withy stoles, and little black moorhens swim away, as you gather it, after their mother, who has dived under the water-grass, and broken the smooth surface of the duckweed.

From The Life of the Fields by Jefferies, Richard

In the lychnis of the high Alps, the red and white have a kind of sugary bloom, as rich as it is delicate.

From Lectures on Art Delivered before the University of Oxford in Hilary term, 1870 by Ruskin, John