[Crown Copyright Reserved.] 
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW. 
BULLETIN 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION, 
No. 7] [1922 
XXXIII.—A REVISION OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN 
SPECIES OF DIANTHUS. 
J. Burrr Davy, 
The genus Dianthus, as represented in South Africa, has long 
been a source of trouble to systematists. The characters on 
which we have to depend for specific delimitation are less amenable 
to precise definition than is the case in many other genera. 
To indicate the difficulty which has been experienced by 
authors in dealing with them, it may be pointed out that at 
least ten names have been assigned by botanists at various times 
to specimens of what is obviously one and the same species, 
seven of the ten being due to wrong identification with the 
descriptions of other species, while on the other hand the name 
Dianthus scaber, Thunb., has been assigned at various times to 
specimens of twelve distinct species, owing to a misconception 
of the species described by Thunberg. | 
he only effective way to clear up this confusion was to 
ascertain precisely what plants Thunberg had in mind when he 
described his four South African Dianthi. By the courtesy of 
Professor Juel of Upsala (through the Director of the Royal 
Botanic Gardens, Kew) I have now had the opportunity to 
study these Thunberg types, and I wish to record my great 
indebtedness to him for this valuable assistance. 
Three of the Thunberg sheets have been matched with material 
at Kew and the British Museum. But the Thunberg sheet of 
D. incurvus does not agree with any South African material 
available, nor with his description, and I can only conclude that 
it is not the type on which the original description was based. I 
consulted Professor Juel on this point during his recent visit 
to England; he has kindly looked into the matter since his 
return to Sweden and has furnished the following note, dated 
Botaniska Institutionen, Upsala, July 12, 1922 :—‘ As mentioned 
in ‘Plantae Thunbergianae’ (p. 15), Thunberg published & 
A 
@® (78)183856 Wt 122—P3 1000 9/22 E&S 
