BRITISH PLANT LISTS AND THEIR DISCREPANCIES 241 



perhaps it had better be kept distinct as in the " Lond. 

 Cat." As a variety of 6". apetala, Messrs. Groves are the 

 authors. 



Hypericum quadrangulum , L. I differ from both " List " 

 and " Catalogue " in considering this to be synonymous with 

 dubium, Leers. The quadrangulum of the " Linnean Her- 

 barium " is not tetrapteruni ( = quadrangulare}. The descrip- 

 tion in " Sp. PI." and " Fl. Suec." refers to dubium ; but 

 Linnaeus adds a synonym taken from Bauhin, which Crantz 

 probably correctly considers to refer to tetrapteruin ( = quad- 

 rangulare, called by Cran,tz quadrangulum} ; but it appears 

 certain that Crantz acted wrongly in naming the type H. 

 quadrangulum as H. maculatum, and in giving Linnaeus's 

 name quadrangulum to a plant cited by Linnaeus in 

 synonymy. In fact Crantz's name appears to be still-born. 1 

 Therefore I prefer to follow the " Index Kewensis " and 

 continental botanists in retaining H. quadrangulum for 

 dubium, and rejecting Crantz's name maculatum. If acutum, 

 Mcench, be really synonymous with H. quadrangulum, L., as 

 Mr. Britten asserts (" Journ. Bot.," p. 436), although Schinz 

 and Thelling use it as representing H. tetrapterum, Fries, 

 that name is unavailable. In any case, however (supposing 

 H. quadrangulum is used in the manner I have suggested) 

 the oldest name for our square-stemmed St. John's Wort with 

 pellucid dots appears to be H. quadrangulare, Stokes (in 

 "With. Nat. Arr.," ii. p. 813, 1787), but he cites Curtis 

 (" Fl. Lond.," iv. p. 38), who calls it quadrangulum. 



Geranium Ran, Lindley. I followed Babington 

 ("Manual," p. 78) in putting this as a var. of lucidum, as is 

 done in the last edition of " Lond. Cat." ; but there is little 

 doubt from the description and its position in the " Synopsis " 

 that Lindley considered it to be allied to Robertianum, 

 indeed the synonym quoted from Ray, " Synopsis," refers to 

 var. purpur'eum of G. Robertianum (see " Dillenian Herbaria," 

 p. iio). We may therefore either omit Rail or place it 

 under Robertianum as a var. differing from purpureum by 

 the more shaggy stem and calyx. 



1 A somewhat similar instance is that of Hudson's treatment of aggregate 

 Epilo itiin hirsiitum, L. He gives the name E. hirsutitni to the plant we know 

 as parvifiontin, and re-names E. hirstituin as ramosmn. 



68 E 



