LYCHNIS, in botany, a genus of the decandria pentagynia class. The calix consists of one oblong smooth leaf, and the corolla of five unguiculated petals, with a bifid limb; and the capsule has three cells. There are seven species, three of them natives of Britain; viz. the flos cuculi, meadow-pinks, or cuckoo-flower; the viscaria, or red German catchfly; and the dioica, or white campion.