A COMPARATRT STUDY OF FLOERKEA PROSERFIXACOIDES 



AND ALLIES 



BY 



Alice M. Russell, B.S., M.S. 

 With Plates XCI, XCII 



CONTENTS 



I. Introduction and Historical Review 401 



II. Synopsis of Family Limnanthaceae 403 



III. Distribution of Species 404 



IV. Morphological and Anatomical Study of Floerkea and Limnanthes 406 



V. Conclusions 413 



VI. Summary 415 



VII. Bibhography 416 



VIII. Description of Plates 417 



Introduction and Historical Re\^ew 



The purpose of this paper is to verify the affinities of Floerkea proser- 

 pinacoides in relation to other plant types. 



Floerkea proserpinacoides was first described by Willdenow in 1801 

 in the "Neue Schriften der Gesellschaft der naturforschenden Freunde" 

 (29). He did not give it a definite position in the natural orders of 

 plants. In Barton's Compendium Florae Philadelphicae (30), it is placed 

 in the division Hexandria Monogynia. 



In 1833 Robert Brown described Limnanthes Douglasii before the 

 Linnaean Society in June of that year. The abstract of the paper, 

 quoted from the London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Maga- 

 zine of General Science for July-December 1833, (31) is as follows: — 

 "June 18, a paper was read, entitled, 'Characters and Descriptions of 

 Limnanthes, a new genus of plants allied to Floerkea, ' by Robert Brown, 

 Esq. V.P.L.S. For specimens of the plant described, the writer is in- 

 debted to the Horticultural Society, and to Mr. David Douglas, F.L.S., 

 by whom it was recently discovered in California. 



"Mr. Brown was led more particularly to examine Limnanthes, from 

 its resemblance to Floerkea of Willdenow, a genus which he had many 



