Vol. 39 No. 11 
BULLETIN 
OF THE 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB 
NOVEMBER 1og12 
Was Lamarck’s evening primrose (Oenothera Lamarckiana 
Seringe) a form of Oenothera grandiflora Solander ? 
BRADLEY Moore Davis 
(WITH PLATES 37-39) 
This paper will present evidence which in the writer’s opinion 
_ Clearly indicates that the Oenothera grown in the gardens of the 
Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle at Paris about 1796, described by . 
_ Lamarck (?1798) under the name A enothera g d renamed 
_ by Seringe (1828) Oenothera Lamarckiana, was a fui of Oenothera 
_ grandiflora Solander (1789), introduced into England in 1778 from 
Wabama. If this identification is correct it follows that the name 
_ Oenothera Lamarckiana Seringe becomes a synonym of Oenothera 
_ grandiflora Solander (O. grandiflora “ Aiton”’). 
% The evidence in the light of recent studies shows that Professor 
: De Vries made an incorrect determination of the material of his 
_ farlier, The material of De Vries’s cultures is very different from 
_ this plant and can only be allowed to keep the name Lamarckiana 
' when written ‘“‘ Oenothera Lamarckiana De Vries” it is not Oenothera 
_ Lamarckiana Seringe. 
aly attention was first directed to this matter on seeing in the 
tium of the New York Botanical Garden tracings of La- 
marck’ s plant, the type of Oenothera Lamarckiana Seringe, which 
is Preserved in Lamarck’s herbarium at the Muséum d'Histoire 
Naturelle, The resemblance of these tracings to the material of 
a totlera grandiflora Solander from Alabama, now assembled in 
[The Buttetin for October 1912 (39: 455-518. pl. 36) was issued 2 N r912.] 
519 
