529 
While the determination of dried specimens is not always easy, 
living plants may always be distinguished instantly by a glance at 
the flowers, and further comparative study cannot fail to lead to 
their recognition as beautifully similar yet beautifully distinct 
species. 
The most obvious differences between these plants reside in 
the flowers. In one the calyx-lobes are spreading and revolute 
passing gradually into a slender upcurved acumination, and the in- 
terior of the tube is purple nearly down to the base ; in the other 
species the calyx-tube is white within and the flat and reflexed 
lobes aré abruptly acuminate at the apex into a straight obtuse point. 
Fortunately there need be no uncertainty as to which one of 
these plants should bear the name Asarum Canadense L. Al- 
though the description in Species Plantarum is diagnostic of neither 
species the citations there given establish conclusively that the 
Linnaean plant was the one with gradually acuminate calyx-lobes. 
The following references enter into the foundation of the Lin- 
nean species : 
“Gron. Virg. 52. 
Moris. hist. 3. p. §11. 8.13. 7.0 ¢ 
Corn: Can, 34, % 25." 
The specimen of Gronovius is perhaps no longer in existence, 
nor is it of any great consequence in view of the sufficiency of the 
remaining citations. I am indebted to Mr. Edmund G. Baker for 
the information that this particular type is not to be found among 
the Gronovian specimens in the British Museum. I have also 
to thank Mr. Baker for a tracing of the illustration in the rare 
work of Morison. This figure proves to be merely a reduced 
copy of the plate of “ Asaron Canadense” in Cornuti’s “ Canaden- - 
sium Plantarum,” published in 1635, which is a crude but quite =~ 
unmistakable illustration of the plant with gradually acuminate 
calyx-lobes, establishing perfectly the significance of the Linnaean 
name. | 
The synonomy of this plant is as follows : 
AsAaRuM CANADENSE L. Sp. Pl. 1: 442. 1753. 
A. Carolinianum Walter, Fl. Car. 143. 1788. 
A. latifolium Salis. Prodr. 344- 1796. 
