535 
* 
This plant has been especially studied in Van Cortlandt Park, 
New York City, where the typical form is found in abundance in 
the woodland along Tibbit’s Brook and the upland form also 
occurs. Through the kindness of Prof. Trelease I have been 
enabled also to examine fresh material from the vicinity of St. 
Louis. 
A single plant bearing a 4-merous flower was collected in Van 
Cortlandt Park. 
Type material from Van Cortlandt Park will be deposited in 
the Herbaria of Columbia University and the New York Botanical 
Garden, the Gray Herbarium and the Herbaria of the Missouri 
Botanical Garden and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
The foregoing description of Asarum reflexum has been drawn 
to cover only the typical plant and its causal variations. It would 
appear that a geographical variety must also be recognized. Liv- 
ing specimens were sent to me in May, 1897, collected on the bank 
of the Desplaines river at Maywood, Illinois, near Chicago, which, 
though essentially like the type, show characters apparently never 
developed by the more eastern plant. As in the case of A. reflexum 
and A. Canadense here again the most evident differences are found 
in the flower, which shows especially a notable elongation of the 
strongly reflexed calyx-segments as denoted in the accompanying 
illustration (Plate II., a, b). 
The variety may be characterized as follows: 
ASARUM REFLEXUM AMBIGUUM DN. var. 
Slender, the leaf-blades short and very broad with a deep wide 
sinus and mostly abruptly pointed at the apex, the lower surface 
rather densely, even softly, pubescent; flowers often longer and 
narrower than in reflexrum; exterior of calyx nearly white, very 
woolly tomentose, the tube 8-10 mm. long, the reflexed lobes 
longer and narrower than in the type with much longer points, 
8—9 mm. wide at the base, 12-17 mm. long, the straight slender 
points 4-8 mm. long, sometimes extending back to the base of 
the calyx and closely appressed against it; surface of reflexed 
lobes light brownish-red, distinctly parallel-veined, glabrate ; col- 
umn short, 3-4 mm. high; hexagonal band on surface of ovary 
narrower than in the type and of a bright purplish-red color. 
In one specimen the calyx-lobes are almost pointless, but are 
longer than normally and evenly graduated to the apex, 
