126 Coville June us marginatus and its Varieties. 



one, which he referred to Juncus aristulatus MX. (citing it by 

 error, apparently from Pursh, Juncus aristatus, and modifying 

 Michaux's description to some extent), and another, which he 

 described as a new species, Juncus biflorus, with the diagnosis 

 ^Juncus culmo tripedali, tereti ; foliis linearibus, plan is ; panicula 

 decomposita, elongata ; glomerulis bifloris." There can be no doubt 

 that this plant is referable to true Juncus aristulatus, and that 

 Elliott incorrectly transferred Michaux's name to some other 

 form, perhaps the type form, of Juncus marginatus. Torrey's 

 Juncus marginatus odoratus, the original specimen of which I 

 have examined in the Columbia College herbarium, is Juncna 

 marginatus aristulatus, with 3- to 5-flowered heads, and has now 

 lost the pleasant odor, probably accidental, attributed to it by 

 Dr. Torrey. Nuttall's Juncus heteranthos can be nothing else 

 than Juncus marginatus biflorus, for although his type specimen 

 appears to have been lost he states explicitly in his description 

 that the flowers are mostly in threes, and that the inner perianth 

 parts are obtuse. In describing the plant, therefore, he appears 

 to have been distinguishing it from the common typical eastern 

 form of Juncus marginatus and not to have had in mind Elliott's 

 Juncus biflorus. The form ascribed to the inner perianth parts 

 precludes its reference to Juncus marginatus setosus. The type 

 specimen of Liebmarm's Juncus canaliculatus has been examined 

 by Dr. Franz Buchenau, who refers it unhesitatingly to Juncus 

 marginatus* Since he does not say that its inner perianth parts 

 are acute, I judge that it is not Juncus marginatus setosus, which, 

 indeed, is very unlikely to occur in the humid climate of Vera 

 Cruz. Neither is Liebmann's plant referable to the type form of 

 Juncus marginatus, for that plant does not range so far south. 

 The Juncus odoratus of Steudel is based on Juncus marginatus 

 odoratus Torr., to which reference has already been made, and 

 Engelmann's Juncus marginatus biflorus is based upon Juncus 

 biflorus Ell. 



The variety described above as new could not, from its range, 

 have been referable to any of the plants whose names have been 

 cited above as synonyms of Juncus marginatus or its variety, with 

 the exception of Juncus heteranthos and Juncus canal icidatus, and 

 the reasons for the reference of these two plants to Juncus mar- 

 ginatus aristulatus have been given in the last paragraph. 



The localities of specimens examined in the preparation of 



, Naturw. Ver, Bremen, iii. 343-344 (1873). 



