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

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

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

And in connection with this saint we are told how:—   "The scarlet lychnis, the garden's pride,   Flames at St. John the Baptist's tyde."

From The Folk-lore of Plants by Dyer, T. F. Thiselton (Thomas Firminger Thiselton)

The grass is long and yet sparse; here and there a few flowers cling, hardy geraniums, lychnis, and the like, but they seem strangely out of place.

From Melody : the Story of a Child by Richards, Laura Elizabeth Howe

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 Pageant of Summer by Jefferies, Richard