546 Druce: Helleborine Hill or Epipactis Adans.? 



1 • 



apart from Serapias, as understood by Linnaeus, but, on the con- 

 trary, adds vastly and most unscientifically to it His descrip- 

 tion, compared with that of Hill, is quite indefinite, covering as it 

 does Serapias, Helleborine, Cypripedhim, Pogonia, and many other 

 genera, as is shown by his synonymy in the erratic table or index 

 (2 : 554) ; it is a rubbish-heap rather than a properly formulated 

 genus and is wisely to be ignored. It may, however, be contended 

 that Epipactis as established by Crantz (Stirpes Austrlacum 456. 

 1769) is available. This author writes Epipactis Holler, giving 

 also synonyms '' Op/uys, Nidus avis, Helleborine Tourn.' aliorum, 

 Ophrys, Serapias, Neottia, Herminitim Linn./' but his definitions 

 do not separate Serapias from Helleborine^ indeed, as the synonyms 

 quoted show, it is meant to cover both. ■ The first and second 

 species of his Epipactis are Cephalantheras ; others included belong 

 to the genera Goodyera, Listera, Spiranthes, Neottia, and Helle- 

 borine, eight different genera in all being included in this extra- 

 ordinary group, which is scarcely less inchoate than that of Adan- 

 son. Doubtless, if Serapias grew in that portion of Austria treated 

 of by Crantz, that also would have been included. Epipactis is 

 however rendered invalid by Boehmer*s restoration of Haller's 

 genus Epipactis established in 1741 (Stirpes Helv. 277) and 

 adopted by Allione in the Flora Pedemontana, to define the plant 

 more recently known as Goodyera, as his description and synonyms 

 clearly show. It is true Haller subsequently lost grip of its char- 

 acters and added many other plants, some even generically differ- 

 ent species, to his original Epipactis, but this was done in works 

 published before 1753 and are therefore not valid for citation. 



The publication in 1805 by Willdenow of his edition of the 

 Species Plantarum in which he followed Swartz (Act. Holm. 231. 

 1805) in using the name Epipactis to represent Helleborine, Cepha- 

 lanthera, Listera, Neottia, etc., led Brown (Aiton, Hort. Kew. 5 : 

 201. 1813), Gray (Nat Arr, Brit. PL 2: 212. 1821), and Smith 

 (English Flora 4 : 40. 1828) to adopt that name, which has been 

 in general use since that time. 



It being thus evident that Hill's genus Helleborine must super- 

 sede Epipactis Adans., the species will stand as follows : 



Helleborine africana (Rendle, Jour. Bot. 33: 252. 1895, as 



Epipactis), 



