Russell— Comparison of the Structure of Hybrid 



Historical Review 



Before Tournefort had named the genus Sarracena (i) and 

 Linnaeus (2) had accepted the name, the group of the Sarra- 

 cenias was already known to the early settlers in North America. 

 They collected the plants and sent them to Europe as inter- 

 esting exotics, where they were carefully described in botanical 

 publications. As early as 1570, Lobel described specimens of 

 the group which had come to his attention. Clusius (1601) (3) 

 figures 5. purpurea and Parkinson (4) copies his figure and 

 adds a note which seems to indicate that he knew S. flava as 

 well. Concerning this plant, which he calls "The Hollow 

 Leaved Strange Plant of Clusius," he writes: "This strange 

 plant hath such strange leaves, as the like are seldome seene 

 in any other that we know growing, for they are nine or ten 

 or more, rising from the head of a small long roote, each by 

 itselfe, being small below, and growing greater upward, with 

 a belly as it were bunching forth, and a bowing backe, hollow 

 at the upper end, with a peece thereon like a flappe, and like 

 unto the flower of Aristolochia, or Birthwort, and round at 

 the mouth like a halfe circle, full of great darke purplish veins 

 on the inside; the whole leaf is of thicke substance almost like 

 unto leather; among these leaves sprang a stalke but was broken 

 short off, so that what flower or seed it bore could not be ob- 

 served. This was sent to Clusius from Paris by one that re- 

 ceived it from Lishbone in the same manner. But of late 

 Master John Tradescant the younger found this very plant 

 in Virginia, having his toppe thereon, which he brought home 

 and groweth with him, which I here show you with Clusius 

 his figure. The leaves are longer, narrower and not bellying 

 out, and the flower is borne at the top of the roundish seed 

 vessell." The specimen sent by Tradescant was probably 5. 

 flava. 



Plukenet (6) (7) was familiar with both S. flava and 5. pur- 

 purea, since he gives very accurate figures of both species. 



John Ray (8) gave a Latin translation of Parkinson's descrip- 

 tion already quoted. The actual specimen described by him, 

 however, was a natural hybrid between S. flava and 5. pur- 

 purea, and was the first natural hybrid collected. (See below.) 



