Lychnis coronaria (L.) Desr. in Lam., Encycl. 3: 643. 1792; Edgew. & Hook. f. in Fl. Brit. India 1: 222. 1874. Agrostemma coronaria L., Sp. Pl. 436. 1753.

Herbs, uniformly soft-tometose with silky white hairs; stems erect, 30 - 75 (-100) cm high, sparingly branched. Radical leaves lanceolate to spathulate, 7 - 12 cm long; cauline leaves oblong, 4 - 7 cm long. Flowers in few-flowered cymes, long-pedicellate. Calyx conical, 1.5 - 2 cm long, hairy, 10-nerved; teeth contorted to left. Petals broadly obcordate with stiff 2-toothed scales on claw, ca 2.5 cm long, red-purple. Capsules subsessile, 5-valved, entire, included in calyx; seeds biconvex, striate and tuberculate.

Fl. May - Aug.

Distrib. India: Jammu &. Kashmir and Karnataka.

W. Asia and S. Europe.

Notes. An extract from the root is used in lung and liver diseases.

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