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

See Examples For:

lychnis

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 Richard Jefferies

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 William Beckford

The pink lychnis or ragged robin grows among the grasses; the iris flowers higher on the shore.

From The Hills and the Vale by Richard Jefferies

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 John Ruskin

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 Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards