342 YOUNGKEN— ON THE MYRICACEAE 



In 1693, Plumier ("Description des Plantes de I'Amerique") called 

 a species which resembles Myrica cerifera, "Arbor carolinensis or Ligus- 

 triim americanum lauri folio. " 



In 1695, Petiver in his "Musci Petiveriani" mentions two species, 

 Gale mariana asplenii folio now known as Comptonia asplenifolia, Ait. 

 and Gale capensis now called Myrica cordifolia L. 



In 1696, Plukenet in his "Almagestum Botanicum" (p. 250) refers 

 to the plant now known by the name, Comptonia asplenifolia, (L.) Ait. 

 as Myrtiis Brabanticac affinis Americana foliorum laciniis Asplenii modo 

 divisis, Julifera simul et fructum ferens. " 



In 1733, Philip Miller, in Vol. 1, ed. 1 of his Gardener's Dictionary, 

 placed the plants now known as Myrica Gale L, Myrica cerifera L, and 

 Myrica Carolinensis Mill, under the genus Gale. He called M. Gale of 

 Linnaeus the Sweet Gale, Sweet Willow, or Dutch Myrtle and referred to 

 it as growing upon bogs in several parts of England and casting its leaves 

 in winter. He designated M. cerifera L as the Candleberry Tree and 

 M. carolinensis Mill, as the Dwarf broad-leaved Candleberry Tree. Both 

 of these plants, he said, were evergreen and indigenous to America. 



In his Systema Naturae of 1737, Linnaeus placed the genus Myrica 

 in class X, Dioecia and in section IX, Tetrandria, of his sexual system. 

 In applying the term Myrica to the plants now recognized as belonging 

 to the Comptonia and Myrica genera, he revived a name employed a long 

 time before him by Valerius Cordus for the Tamarix. 



In 1753, in his "Species Plantarum" ed. 1, p. 1024, he named the tree 

 form with lanceolate shaped leaves Myrica cerifera. On different 

 pages of the same volume he gave the names of Liquidambar peregrina 

 and Myrica asplenifolia to Plukenet's Myrtiis Brabanticac afinis America- 

 na fohorum laciniis modo divisis. 



In his "Spieces Plantarum" 2nd edition of 1763, he classified his 

 earUer Myrica asplenifolia under the group Monoecia polyandria and 

 called the plant Liquidambar asplenifolium, giving its habitat as North 

 America. In the same volume he classified Myrica Gale and Myrica 

 cerifera under the group, Dioecia Tetrandria. He described M. Gale 

 as having a suffruticose stem with leaves lanceolate in outline and having 

 a sub-serrate margin. He further referred to Peter Kalm's itinerary Vol. 

 2, p. 312 in which M. cerifera is described as a tree with lanceolate, sub- 

 serrate leaves. 



In 1768, Philip Miller named a plant smaller than M. cerifera and 

 deciduous in nature, Myrica Carolinensis. (Mill. Gard. Diet. ed. 8 n. 3.) 



