134 Rhodora [AucusT 
written. Dr. Blake discusses my separation of Aureolaria and Aga- 
linis, confining his remarks however to the provisional key given by 
me in considering only the species of the Atlantic Coastal Plain.! That 
he so confines his discussion cannot but leave some doubt as to the 
intimacy of his acquaintance with the plants of this group. 
To those who seek to express species-relationship no fact becomes 
plainer than that each group must be viewed in the totality of its 
characters. To found a group upon a single character is unfortunate. 
Also to conclude, as has been reasoned, that because in one alliance 
a character is of little or great value, therefore it is valueless or of 
exceeding value in some other alliance, is logic often disproved. 
Characters, such as color, frequently of trifling worth, are in some 
groups of great racial importance. Moreover, while we would like 
to standardize Nature, by the conditions of Evolution we cannot make 
our genera truly co-ordinate. Awreolaria and Agalinis, separated, 
possibly have not the value, that is distinctness, of Pedicularis, but 
the facts I shall present I think show conclusively that they have far 
more distinctness than has any possible combination of these, together, 
or with other allies. 
My key, referred to, distinguished these as follows: 
“Corolla yellow. Anther-sacs parallel, awned at base. Capsule acute to 
acuminate. Seeds wingless or winged.................... 3. Aureolaria 
“Corolla pink or purple. Anther-sacs more or less divergent, obtuse to 
mucronate-awned at base. Capsule rounded at apex. Seeds wingless. 
4. Agalinis” 
To these characters might be added: 
Aureolaria.— Parasitic on roots of trees, each species restricted to one or few 
allied hosts, usually species of Quercus. Stems relatively stout. Leaves 
lanceolate to ovate, entire to bipinnatifid-lobed, relatively large. 
Agalinis.— Parasitic on roots of herbaceous plants, rarely on shrubs or trees, 
each species on many diverse hosts (excepting in A. linifolia (Nutt.) Britton). 
Stems slender. Leaves linear-lanceolate to filiform or subulate, entire 
(except that toothing sometimes occurs in A. heterophylla (Nutt.) Small). 
Of course these are vegetative characters, but they are characters 
in correlation with those of flowers and fruit. Let us consider these 
latter characters, those presented in the key above. 
First, color of corolla.? Aureolaria possesses large corollas, in some 
1 Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 40: 404. 1913. 
2 It may perhaps appear hazardous to discuss a character so perishable as color. But of the 
48 species of Aureolaria, Agalinis and Otophylla of the United States I have collected and made 
descriptions of the fresh corollas of 43. The remaining 5 are closely akin to species seen. 
