1900] Robinson, — New England Agrimonies 235 
least a month before petaliferous flowers appear. This past season 
it was not until July 15 that the first flowers were seen here, and 
for a week or more after that they occurred only sparingly. 
Plants in cool, moist woods may retain their opposite leaves until 
late July, and very many of them apparently die without ever 
showing a petaliferous flower. During the remainder of the season, 
both kinds of flowers are freely produced. 
Impatiens in this respect offers a noteworthy contrast with Viola, 
whose petaliferous flowers always precede and sometimes follow 
the cleistogenes of summer. From this behavior of Impatiens it 
seems hardly probable that temperature can be the only factor deter- 
mining the production of one or the other form of flower, as has been 
suggested in the case of the violets. 
THE NOMENCLATURE OF THE NEW ENGLAND 
AGRIMONIES. 
B. L. ROBINSON. 
Four years ago Mr. E. P. Bicknell’ published an account of the 
American species of Agrimonia, lucidly distinguishing no less than 
seven of them, instead of the two commonly recognized in the then 
current manuals. While Mr. Bicknell's work bears ample evidence of 
care and accuracy in the botanical observations which he recorded, 
it fails signally to carry conviction in the matter of synonymy and 
nomenclature. The following notes, it is hoped, may contribute to a 
final settlement of our five New England species of this genus. 
1 A. HIRSUTA, Bicknell, Bull. Torr. Club, xxiii. 509 (1896). 
"There can be no doubt from Wallroth's careful and detailed charac- 
terization that this is his 4. gryposepala, published in 1842. To dis- 
place this well-described specific combination of W allroth, Mr. Bick- 
nell takes up the varietal name “hirsuta,” published by Muhlenberg 
in his catalogue. Unfortunately, however, Muhlenberg’s plant was 
not properly described, and 4. Eupatoria hirsuta, Muhl., is at best a 
nomen subnudum. Now, whatever difference of opinion may exist on 
the question whether a specific name may be displaced by an earlier 
varietal name, there can, I think, be only one opinion as to the inad- 
visability of discarding a name of known and definite application and 
1 Bull. Torr. Club, xxiii. 508-523, t. 282-283. 
