

125 



S. cordata, from which it is always distinguished by the peculiar 

 texture and veining of the leaves, absence of stipules and very 

 loosely flowered fertile aments. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE LXXXL 

 1-5. Sahx balsamipra, formatypka; I. leaf, 2-3 amcuis, 4, capsule x 8, 5 stam- 

 ensx8; 6. var. vegeta ; 7. var. lanceolata ; 8. alpestris. 



Linnaeus and his Genera of Plants. 



By Edward L. Greene. 



In the October number of this journal I have said that Lin- 

 nseus *'no\v and then seemed afifected by a singular blindness to 

 generic characters in plants." The remark was not thrown out 

 at a venture, nor yet with any thought of making a sensation in 

 circles where there might be supposed to linger a shade of that 

 Linneolatry which, up to not more than two generations ago, 

 ruled so largely the mind and the soul of the world botanical. 



Before saying more I must do myself the justice of expressing 

 my deep and sincere admiration for some sides of the character 

 of Linnaeus, and for much of his work in botany. Without 

 scholarship, as compared with a goodly num.ber of his botanical 

 forerunners and contemporaries, and not scrupulous regarding 

 the rights of others, he was still a great man, and a prince among 

 naturalists ; and no true botanist can ever fail to have something 

 like veneration for the name of him who gave to the all important 

 subject of scientific nomenclature its most immortal treatise, the 

 first edition of the Species Plantarum, and who furnished us, in 

 his Flora Lapponica, the most charming book of botany ever 

 written. For their Linneolatry our forefathers are excusable, and 

 we name not their ruling passion by way of reproach; but, as a 

 scientific cultus, it is dead, or nearly so, and it has entailed con- 

 sequences not always wholesome, which it will take some labor 

 of future ^fenerations to correct. 



In considering what were the gifts of Linnasus* regarding in- 



* I have been accustomed to write Linn^ rather than Linnaeus, following the usage 

 of most modern writers, even the Scandinavian. But that is the French writmg of the 

 name, and Dr, Asa Gray, it is well known, objected to it in English. His objections 

 seem to me well taken. The Swedish name, which was Lind, has never been used, 

 and betiveen the French Linn^ and the Latin Linm^us the latter seems the better 

 choice for us who write English, notwithstanding that usage more and more favors the 

 former. 



. [Note.— In justice to the author of this paper we must state that it has been in type 

 smce last November, having been since then revised and abbreviated by him,— Eds.] 



