THE CORRECT NAME OF THE YAUPON 
BY 
RicHarp Evans ScCHULTEsS’ 
DvriING a recent conversation with me regarding the 
nomenclature of the yaupon, Professor Oakes Ames 
‘alled my attention to a precious remark which Dillenius 
once wrote in a letter to Linnaeus (Smith, J. E.: ‘SA 
selection of the correspondence of Linnaeus and other 
naturalists’’ 2 (1821) 96). *‘We all know the nomencla- 
ture of Botany to be an Augean stable, which C. Hoff- 
man, and even Gesner, were unable to cleanse.”” Noth- 
ing could be more expressive of the confusion which one 
encounters in the synonymy of this holly than the term 
** Augean stable. ”” 
There has long been a need for a thorough discussion 
of the correct name of the yaupon, the source of the 
black-drink once so commonly used as a ceremonial emet- 
ic and stimulant amongst Indians of the southeastern 
part of the United States. 
The monographer of the Aguifoliaceae, Loesener 
(Monogr. Aquifol. in Nova Acta Acad. C. L. C. G. 
Nat. Cur. 78 (1901) ) employed the binomial J/ex caro- 
liniana (Iuam.) Loes. Most modern taxonomic treat- 
ments, however, use Ilex vomitoria [Soland. in] Ait. 
' Botanist, Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engi- 
neering, Agricultural Research Administration, United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture; Research Fellow, Botanical Museum, Harvard 
University. This contribution is part of a study of New World narcotic 
and stimulant plants carried out as a Guggenheim Fellow in Botany. 
[ 97 ] 
