174 Rhodora [SEPTEMBER 
but with an authority assigned that is not in accord with present 
usage. The statement there made is as follows: “Mentha spicata 
L. var. viridis L. Sp. Pl., ed. 1, p. 576 (1753) was raised to the rank 
of a species by Hudson, and must be called Mentha spicata Huds. 
Fl. Angl. ed. 1, 221 (1762) not Mentha viridis L. Sp. Pl., ed. 2, p. 804 
(1763)." It is perhaps impossible to decide whether var. viridis 
“was raised to the rank of a species by Hudson,” as his first reference 
might indicate, or whether he considered the Linnaean M. spicata 
to be typified by its var. a. viridis and adopted his specific name 
accordingly. At any rate, it is certain that the plant can not be 
called " Mentha spicata Huds.” under any code of nomenclature in 
present use. 
The customary citation of the accepted names of the two other 
mints described as varieties of M. spicata by Linnaeus, as Mentha 
longifolia (L.) Huds. and M. rotundifolia (L.) Huds., is based on the 
natural inference that Hudson’s names were founded on those of 
Linnaeus. It is by no means clear, however, that this method of 
citation is correct. It is obvious that Hudson had the Species Plan- 
tarum before him when writing his descriptions. The omission of 
his customary reference to that work under these two species, how- 
ever, involves the omission of anything that could be considered 
a “name-bringing synonym,” since the citations from pre-Linnaean 
authors common to the two works can certainly not be regarded in 
that light. In neither the International Rules nor the American 
Code is there any statement as to the definiteness of reference to the 
earlier name required in nomenclatorial transfers in order to justify 
the use of a parenthetical authority. The question is a minor one, 
and very likely was not considered by the framers of either code. 
The commonly used expression “name-bringing synonym” certainly 
implies some sort of citation, and the fairly well established practice 
of not reading into a work more than the author himself put there 
points in the same direction. The mints described in the first edition 
of the Species Plantarum as Mentha spicata, a. viridis, B. longifolia, 
and Y. rotundifolia are then properly designated as follows: 
MENTHA spicata L. Sp. Pl. 2: 576. 1753. 
Mentha spicata «. viridis L. Sp. Pl. 2: 576. 1753. 
Mentha viridis L. Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 2: 804. 1763. 
