56 Rhodora [March 



Very little that is definite can be derived from the extended syn- 

 onomy given by Linnaeus under his a except the reference to the 

 Hortus ClifTortianus. There another reference leads to Morison 

 (Hist. iii. p. 189 & sect. 8, t. 4, f. 15), where the figure is plainly an 

 awnless form of Echiiiochloa, and it is said to grow: "ad agrorum 

 & vinearum margines in hortis item & viridariis, nullo satu, apud 

 Germanos, Italos & Gallos, rarius in Anglia, reperitur." The Bauhin 

 reference under j3 gives no indication that his long-awned form came 

 from America, neither does the reference in Lobelius which Bauhin 

 cites. Morison also described and figured a long-awned variety 

 (1. c. fig. 10), giving the same reference to Lobelius as did Bauhin. 

 The locality given by Morison for this variety was: "Gramen prae- 

 cedena (*. c, the short-awned) frequenter ut in Tritico, Lolio." It 

 is therefore evident that botli a short-awned and a long-awned 

 European form of the barnyard grass were known to Linnaeus. 

 Hitchcock in his "Types of American Grasses" (Contr. U. S. Nat. 

 Herb. xii. pt. 3, 117, 1908) argues that certain American specimens 

 must be considered types of Linnaeus' a and fi. The type of a, 

 lie says, is determined by a specimen in the Linnean herbarium 

 bearing the mark "K," which agrees with the description, and is 

 the only specimen to which Linnaeus attached the name Panicum 

 crusgalli. Fastened to the Kalm sheet, Hitchcock says, are two 

 other sheets, both from Gronovius, one of which is a large-panicled 

 short-awned form, which seems to be the same as the plant, cited 

 by Gronovius as Clayton's no. 591; and the other a long-awned 

 form with hispid sheaths, which is now called E. Walteri, and to 

 which he says was probably due Linnaeus' statement "in Virginiae 

 cultis" and his conception of P. crusgalli var. /3. However, if it 

 be considered that Linnaeus must have known well the common 

 barnyard grass of Europe, that his reference under both % and /? 

 refer to European material, and that his only mention of America was 

 founded on a long-awned plant which would fall under his var. /3, 

 we are scarcely warranted in taking this Kalm specimen, apparently 

 incidentally labelled Panicum crusgalli, as the type of a species 

 which Linnaeus himself said grows in Europe. Neither is it neces- 

 sary to consider the long-awned Virginian plant as the type of Lin- 

 naeus' var. |8, as he very probably confused this plant with the long- 

 awned plant of Europe already known to him, and this confusion 

 very likely gave rise to the accidental insertion of "Virginiae cultis" 



