rilL PR0BAI5LI-: ORIGIN OJ- OLNOTHERA LAMARCKIANA SER. 5HV) 



larger one, however, corresponds exactly with the species which 

 is now growing in many thousands of specimens near Samois on 

 the eastern limit of the Foret de Fontaineblcau, where I visited 

 the different stations with Dr. Blaringhem in October 1913. The 

 long fruits and the thick flower buds do not leave the least doubt 

 concerning the identity of this specimen. 



The most interesting discovery in this field of historical research, 

 however, is that of a specimen of 0. Lamarckiana Ser. in the col- 

 lection of Michaux, described recently by Blaringhem.') 1 had 

 the advantage of studying this sheet myself, when I visited Paris 

 in October 1913. The printed label says "Herb. Mus. Paris, Herbier 

 de I'Amerique septcntrionale d'Andre Michaux." There is no 

 further indication of the locality and no name. The specimen is 

 a main spike, picked in the beginning of the flowering period, and 

 without fruits (pi. III). It is excellently preserved and corre- 

 sponds in all respects to my cultures of 0. Lamarckiana Ser. The 

 lobes of the stigma are seen to be widely spread above the anthers. 

 The flowers and flower buds are exactly those of the present species. 



Andre Michaux died in 1802, after having traveled during twelve 

 years through the eastern United States from the Hudson River 

 to Carolina. His celebrated collection constitutes one of the best 

 sources of our knowledge of the flora of those parts of America 

 at the end of the eighteenth century, that is, of the same period 

 in which Lamarck published his volumes of the Encyclopedic. 

 His herbarium is at present at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle 

 at Paris, and his plants were described after his death by his son 

 Francois Andre Michaux in a book entitled "Andraeas Michaux, 

 Flora boreali-americana, sistens characteres plantarum quas in 

 America septentrionali collegit Andraeas Michaux. "2) Michaux 

 had the habit of collecting seeds of as many species as possible, 

 besides his herbarium specimens, and of sending them to Europe 

 to be sown. 



This beautiful specimen proves that 0. Lamarckiana Ser. was 

 a component of the flora of the eastern part of Northern America 

 at the end of the eighteenth century, and that it has come down 



1) Blaringhem, L., V Oenothera Lamarckiana Seringe ct les Oenoth^res 

 de Fontainebleau. Rev. (ien. Botani(]ue 25:191}. 



2) Editio nova 1820, Paris. The genus Oenothera is dealt with in 

 vol. I on p. 214; the plant is given under the name of <9. biennis For 

 the ground covered bv his travels, see the preface and the article of 

 Blaringhem. 



