52 



manent features which make them distinguishable ; and their claim 

 to be a separate species is further proved by their geographical 

 distribution. 



By means of the large Arctic collection belonging to the Bota- 

 nical Gardens in Copenhagen, I have been able to study the Arctic forms 

 of this species which have been described as A. borealis Sterneck^ and 

 Rhinanthiis groenlandiciis Chabert^ Unfortunately the descriptions 

 are based on a hmited number only of specimens, so that the 

 authors were unable to ascertain the relative importance of the 

 characteristics pointed out by them. Thus, Sterneck gives as the 

 chief characteristic of his A. borealis its hairy calyx, a characteristic 

 which it shares only with A. asperulus Murb. from the Bosnian 

 mountains. Further investigations show that among a large num- 

 ber of Arctic specimens there are always some with a hairy calyx, 

 but the greater part with glabrous, though the specimens do not 

 otherwise differ from each other in any respect. As Sterneck only 

 had a few young specimens for examination (»Das eine . . . voll- 

 ståndige Individuum gestattet . . . eine Beschreibung und Benen- 

 nung . . .«), his description is also incomplete with regard to 

 fruiting and seeding. 



Chabert's description oi Rhinanthiis (jroenlandiciis is based on 

 some Greenland specimens, which were very large and robust, as 

 is often the case with those from Greenland; his description is 

 otherwise fairly correct, though he goes to the other extreme from 

 Sterneck in emphasizing the glabroxsity of his species. 



According to the specimens — upwards ofa hundred in number — 

 mostly from Greenland and Iceland, which I have had for exa- 

 mination, I tliink that A. horealis and Rhinanthiis groenlandicus 

 ought to be regarded as extreme forms of an Arctic species, which 

 differs from A. minor by its broader leaves with spreading teeth, 

 and the bright yellow colour of the upper part of the plant. The 

 latter feature has induced older botanists (e. g. J. Vahl) to regard 

 the large Greenland specimens as A. major, from which it is quite 

 distinct. 



With regard to the naming of this Arctic species, I prefer Chabert's 



1 Jacob V. Sterneck: Revision des Alectorolophus-Materiales des Herbarium 

 Delessert. Annaire du Conservatoire et du Jardin botaniques de Geneve, 3 année, 

 1899. 



- Alfred Chabert: Etude sur le Genre Rhinanthus L. Bulletin de l'Her- 



bier Boissier, 7 année, 1899. 



