64 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



he had before him a copy of Michaux's Flora since he calls atten- 

 tion to a number of so-called mistakes by Michaux or at least cases 

 where Michaux has used a wrong generic name, and which he pro- 

 poses to correct. For example, in this article he proposes A d 1 u m i a 

 forFumaria recta Michx. Kampmannia for Zanth- 

 oxylum tricarpum Michx. and some others. He calls atten- 

 tion to Michaux's not adopting such names as Ba r t o n i a Willd., 

 M a r s h a 1 1 i a Schreb., B r a s e n i a Schreb., M u h le n - 

 b e r g i a Schreb., and he also proposes a number of new generic 

 names to take the place of Michaux's which he considers inap- 

 propriate. 



The plant under consideration was called "Cleome dode- 

 candra L." both by Michaux and by Pursh, but of course it is 

 not the old world plant so named b\ Limiaeus. As pointed out by 

 Doctor Greene ( Pittonia, 2: 174) it is apparent that the only 

 Cleome dodecandra with which Rafinesque was acquainted 

 was the American plant so named by Michaux, Pursh and other early 

 botanists of this continent. The question, aside from the possible 

 intent that may be inferred from this article taken as a whole, 

 apparently hinges upon whether we shall consider as the type of 

 Jacksonia, the Cleome dodecandra of Linnaeus, or the 

 American species designated by Michaux under the same name. 

 Without taking into consideration the apparent intent of Rafinesque, 

 there is another reference to the matter by Rafinesque which seems 

 to answer the question. In a review of Pursh's Flora (Am. Mo. 

 Mag., 2: 267. 1818) Rafinesque says of the American plant there 

 described as ''Cleome dodecandra L." 



". . . . is more different from Cleome than all the tetradyn- 

 mous genera from each other, or Quercus from Juglans ! Rafin- 

 esque had given to it the name Jacksonia Obs. M. R. which he 

 has since changed into Polanisia, a better name." 



I take it that this is sufficiently clear evidence that Rafinesque 

 knew no other Cleome dodecandra, at least at that time, 

 than the American plant so called by Michaux and Pursh, and that 

 he himself regarded his Polanisia as a later, and as he says '* a bet- 

 ter name," that in crediting the species name to Linnaeus, he was per- 

 petuating the same mistake made by the others, who like himself 

 were unaware that the plant under consideration might not be th^ 

 plant called dodecandra by Linnaeus. 



