210 Rhodora [NOVEMBER 
The average ratio in the first instance was .59 and in the second .39. 
The measurements of the width range from 1.25-3 mm., those of the 
length from 3-4 mm. for the new variety, but from 1-2.75 mm. and 
3-6 mm. respectively for the common variety. 
Houstonia caerulea is described by Linnaeus as being blue. The 
ordinary lowland plant is not infrequently white, and has always a 
yellow throat, but this feature is not so striking, and it has the custo- 
mary corolla-tube of the Bluet. It is presumably this phase which 
is referred to by Millspaugh in Flora of West Virginia, 375 (1892) as 
Houstonia caerulea f. albiflora, but it is listed without description. 
The authors take great pleasure in dedicating the variety, whose 
characterization follows, to the late Edwin Faxon and to Charles 
Edward Faxon, now connected with the Arnold Arboretum, two 
brothers, whose collections of the flora of Mount Washington and 
vicinity have been among the most extensive and valuable in recent 
years. 
HOUSTONIA CAERULEA L. var. Faxonorum Pease et Moore var. nov. 
Flores candidi, faucibus flavissimis; corollae tubus sensim a limbo 
usque ad basim constrictus; tubi maxima latitudo 1.25-3 mm. 
(plerumque 2.04), longitudo 3-4 mm. (plerumque 3.41). Dis- 
tributio in alpinis Montium Alborum. 
Houstonia serpyllifolia Grah. (not Michx.) in: Bot. Mag: lv, pl. 2822 
(1828). Here the above variety is clearly figured. For an il- 
lustration of the type see Bot. Mag. xi, pl. 370 (1797). 
Type specimen: New HawrsnuriE, Coós County, Headwall of 
Tuckerman’s Ravine, Sargent's Purchase, July 29, 1907 (A. H. 
Moore, no. 4047 in Herb. Moore. Co-types in Herbb. Gray, 
Pease, and Bartlett). 
Other specimens examined: New HawrsurnE, Coós County, Head- 
wall of Tuckerman’s Ravine, Sargent’s Purchase, August 14, 
1902 (A. H. Moore, no. 291) and August 28, 1907 (A. S. Pease, 
no. 10732); Alpine Garden, Sargent’s Purchase, August 19, 1907 
(A. S. Pease, no. 10558); Mt. Washington, within 2-300 ft. of 
summit, Sargent's Purchase, August 6, 1897 (W. Deane). 
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. 
