19091] Fernald, — Scutellaria parvula and S. ambigua. 199 
Michaux published Scutellaria parvula! in 1803 characterizing it 
as follows: “S. pusilla: dense pubescens: foliis ovalibus, integris, 
omnibus conformibus: floribus axillaribus. . Obs. Affinis S. minori.. 
Folia sessilia, parvula, ima interdum subdentata. ad. in regione 
Ilinoensi et Canada." 
Pursh, although he cited an additional region (Virginia) for the 
plant, added nothing important to the characterization of the species, 
for he quoted Michaux's description. Sir William Hooker, however, 
published a plate of the species in 1825, and although in the draw- 
ing the pubescence of the stem is not brought out, that character is 
emphasized in his description: *'?/az/ everywhere covered with 
short glandular pubescence."? "The ample description made appar- 
ently from material collected in Canada either by Mrs. Shepard, 
Mr. Goldie, or Dr. John Richardson agrees in detail with the Lake 
Champlain plant and with Quebec specimens in the Gray Herbarium 
collected by Mrs. Shepard, herself (whose plant is cited by Hooker 
in his Flora Boreali-Americana) and by Macrae. ‘This plant, a 
common species in Illinois and the only form known to us from 
Quebec, may be taken without hesitation to represent the true 
SS. parvula of Michaux collected, “in regione Illinoensi et Canada." 
It is not restricted, however, to these regions, but as already stated 
has a broad range, from Quebec and northern Vermont to Michi- 
gan (and the Saskatchewan?) south to Tennessee and Texas. 
The other form, the smoothish plant of Maine and Connecticut, 
is likewise of broad range, and it was first described by Nuttall, in. 
1818, as Scutellaria ambigua, “Stem 4 to 6 inches high, smooth, 
mostly purple.”3 It was soon reduced, however, to .S. parvula, and 
since the publication of Hooker's Flora Boreali-Americana it has. 
apparently remained in unmerited but uninterrupted oblivion.. 
Under the name S. parvula both the smoothish and the glan- 
dular-hairy plants passed among American botanists until the 
publication of the Synoptical Flora. There, although he still 
followed the tradition of treating both the common forms as .S. 
parvula, Dr. Gray described as var. mollis a very hairy and over- 
grown plant of the Mississippi bottoms. Although these plants of 
Dr. Gray's var. molis are much larger (nearly 3 dm. high) and stouter 
lMichx. Fl. ii. 11. 
2 Hook. Exot. Fl. ii. t. 106. 
3 Gen. ii. 37. 
