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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lychnis

Pliny and St. Isidore speak of a certain stone lychnis, of a scarlet or flame colour, which, when warmed by the sun or between the fingers, attracts straws or leaves of papyrus.

From On the magnet, magnetick bodies also, and on the great magnet the earth a new physiology, demonstrated by many arguments & experiments by William Gilbert

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

He with cowslips pale,   Primrose, and purple lychnis, deck'd the green   Before my threshold, and my shelving walls   With honeysuckle cover'd.

From Poetical Works of Akenside by George Gilfillan

Petal formed by the two lobes of lychnis without the retired fringe.

From Hortus Inclusus Messages from the Wood to the Garden, Sent in Happy Days to the Sister Ladies of the Thwaite, Coniston by John Ruskin

The scarlet lychnis, popularly nicknamed the "great candlestick," was commonly said to be lighted up for his day.

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

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