﻿522 
  Mutations 
  

  

  more 
  than 
  40 
  years. 
  They 
  are 
  very 
  constant 
  

   and 
  have 
  proven 
  so 
  in 
  niy 
  experiments. 
  Be- 
  

   sides 
  these 
  three 
  species, 
  the 
  large-flowered 
  

   evening-primrose, 
  or 
  Oenothera 
  lamarckiana, 
  

   is 
  found 
  in 
  some 
  localities 
  in 
  Holland 
  

   and 
  elsewhere. 
  We 
  know 
  little 
  concerning 
  

   its 
  origin. 
  It 
  is 
  supposed 
  to 
  have 
  come 
  

   from 
  America 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  way 
  as 
  its 
  con- 
  

   geners, 
  but 
  as 
  yet 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  

   ascertain 
  on 
  what 
  grounds 
  this 
  supposition 
  

   rests. 
  As 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  know, 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  seen 
  

   growing 
  wild 
  in 
  this 
  country, 
  though 
  it 
  may 
  

   have 
  been 
  overlooked. 
  The 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  

   species 
  of 
  this 
  group 
  are 
  subject 
  to 
  many 
  sys- 
  

   tematic 
  controversies 
  and 
  are 
  combined 
  by 
  dif- 
  

   ferent 
  writers 
  into 
  systematic 
  species 
  in 
  differ- 
  

   ent 
  ways, 
  being 
  often 
  considered 
  as 
  varieties 
  

   of 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  types, 
  easily 
  accounts 
  for 
  it 
  

   having 
  been 
  overlooked. 
  However, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  

   of 
  great 
  interest 
  to 
  ascertain 
  whether 
  0. 
  la- 
  

   marckiana 
  yet 
  grows 
  in 
  America, 
  and 
  whether 
  

   it 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  state 
  of 
  mutability 
  here 
  as 
  it 
  

   is 
  in 
  Holland. 
  

  

  The 
  large-flowered 
  evening-primrose 
  was 
  also 
  

   cultivated 
  about 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  cen- 
  

   tury 
  in 
  the 
  gardens 
  of 
  the 
  Museum 
  d'Histoire 
  

   Naturelle, 
  at 
  Paris, 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  noticed 
  by 
  

   Lamarck, 
  who 
  at 
  once 
  distinguished 
  it 
  as 
  an 
  un- 
  

   described 
  species. 
  He 
  wrote 
  a 
  complete 
  descrip- 
  

  

  