481 



Aquilegia brevistyla Hook. Fl. Bor. Aiuer. i, 24 (1829). Pl. XVIII. 



This plant is vory rare in the United States. Unless the locality given in the sixth 

 edition of Gray's ]Manual ' belong^s to this plant, the station given below, as far as I 

 know, is the first one recorded in the country. All specimens I have seen from the 

 Rocky Monntains belong to another species, which I have named A. saximontana.'^ 

 The original description of A. hrevisiyla is as follows: ''Snbpnbesceus, calcaribns 

 iiicnrvis limbo brcvioribns, stylis brevioribns inclusis, staminibns corolla subre- 

 vioribns.'' To this Hooker adds, in smaller type: " Canlis foliaque fere omnino lit in 

 A. vnlfjare. llores dnplo minores, cicrnlei plornmqne pubescentes.'' "FistUla 5. 

 Germina lineari-cylindracea, pnboscentin, in stylis apiee leniter recnrvis sensim 

 attennata, staminibns brevioribns. Capsnlie 5, unciani bmga^ in stylo brevi vix 

 dnas lineas longo terminata'." 



This description does not lit the Eocky Mountain plant, as in it neither the stem 

 nor the flower nor the capsule is pubescent, but the plant is perfectly smooth. 

 Neither does the stem nor the loaves resemble those of A. ritlgaj-is. The Eocky Moun- 

 tain 2ilant is more or less cespitose, with many low (1 to 2 dm. high) stems from the 

 caudex, which is covered with old leafstalks. In A. vulgaris the stem is tall (4 to 

 10 dm. or more high) and simple. The leaves are of a firm texture in the latter, the 

 root leaves long-petioled and twice-ternate, the stem leaves on short petioles or sub- 

 sessile, often sim]ily ternate or simple and o-lobed. In the Eocky Mountain plant 

 the leaves are thin, all slender-petioled and twice ternate, the upper, however, some- 

 times reduced. The plants of my collection and specimens of J. hrpi'isti/la from 

 western British America very much resemble A. vulgaris, but difier in their shorter 

 styles, the smaller size of the flowers, and the form of the corolla. In A. vulgaris 

 the limb is truncate or refuse, much shorter than the spur, and generally shorter 

 than the stamens. In A. hrevisti/la the limb is oblong, truncate, longer than the 

 short spur and the stamens. The corolla, iieduncles, upper part of the stem, and the 

 capsules are in the sjtecimens mentioned, as they should be according to the original 

 description, viz, pubescent. 



lu nearly all the literature in this country in which A. hrevisii/la is mentioned, the 

 reference is to .(. saximontana instead. Torrey & Gray's Flora is an exception. Here 

 the description is essentially the same as in Hooker's Flora. In both the distribution 

 of the species is given as "Western part of Canada, as far north as Bear Lake," 

 Gray's Manual, sixth edition, perhaps includes both. All the other descriptions I 

 Lave seen refer to the Eocky Mountain plant. The best one is given by Marcus E. 

 Jones. ^ This I shall use as the basis for niy description of A. saximontana, adding 

 such characters as will better show the distinction between this and A. hrevistyla. 

 Even a comparison between .lones's description (or Porter's in Flora of Colorado, or 

 Coulter's in Manual of Eocky Mountain Eegion), and the original one in Hooker's 

 Flora will show that they are drawn from different plants. ■• 



' Gray, Man . ed . (5, 40 ( 1890) . 

 -Sec page 482, in footnote. 

 -Zoe, iv, 2.")8, October, 1893. 



'The North Americ.an species of Ar(iiilegi.a witli curved s]nir may be disposed in the 

 following way : 



A. Sinn 4 in Ui dm. high. 



a. Sit/lr hi fruit more than 1 cm. long. 



A. vcT.OAitis L. Sp. PI. i, .">.33 (17r)3). 



Limb of the corolla shorter than tlu- sjxir and fin- stamens; Mowers blue, red, or 

 white. Escaped from gardens. 



A. Ki.AVEScKN-s Wats. Bot. King. Siirv. v. 10 (ISll). 



Limb of tiie corolla of the length of the s]tur but shorter than the stamens; 



