1906] Robinson,— Nomenclature of N. E. I.auraceae 199 



Neither of these names is applicable under the Vienna rules, the former 

 because officinale is not the earliest specific name, the latter because 

 a specific name may not exactly duplicate the generic. The synonymy 

 is as follows: — 



Laurus Sassafras L. Spec. PI. i. 371 (1753). 

 " variifolia Salisb. Prod. 344 (1796). 



Euosmus albida Nutt. Gen. i. 259 (1818). 



Tetranthera albida Spreng. Syst. Veg. ii. 267 (1825). 



Persea Sassafras Spreng. 1. c. 270 (1825). 



Sassafras officinale Nees & Eberm. Handb. med.-pharm. Bot. ii. 

 418 (1831); Nees, Syst. Laurin. 488 (1836). 



Sassafras albidum Nees, Syst. Laurin. 490 (1836). 



officinarum J. S.' Presl, Rostl. ii. 505 (1846). 



7.aimis albida Loud, ex Meisn. in DC. Prod. xv. pt. 1, 513, 516. 

 (1864). 



Sassafras Sassafras Karst. Pharm.-med. Bot. 505 (1882). 

 " variifolium Ktze. Rev. Gen. ii. 574 (1891) 



From this synonymy it is evident that the earliest available specific 

 name is the one used by Salisbury, which has some thirty-five years 

 priority over the current name officinale. The species should, there- 

 fore, pass hereafter as Sassafras variifolium (Salisb.) Ktze. It is 

 a pleasure to see that this name has already received scholarly recog- 

 nition by Koehne, who employs it in his admirable Deutsche Den- 

 drologie 172 (1893). The descriptive specific name is happily very 

 apj)ropriate. 



Gray Herbarium. 



