356 



that Linnaeus himself referred to different species by that name. In 

 the Linnaean herbarium are two specimens, on " different papers j)in- 

 ned together, the first of which is the H. quadrangulum of Eng. Bot. 

 (t. 370), and has a number appended referring to the Sp. PL ; the 

 other is the H. duhium of Leers (Eng. Bot. t. 296), and has the same 

 number attached to it, and also the name of " H. quadrangulumP 

 Linnaeus first described his H. quadrangulum in the 'Hortus Clifforti- 

 anus,' (p. 380), where it is said to have ^'^ Folia calycina suhulata^^ 

 and Morison (vol. ii. t. 6, f. 10) is referred to as the original authority. 

 Morison's plant is the H. quadrangulum of Smith, "which has the 

 folia calycina suhiilata^'' while in the H. dubium of Leers and Smith 

 they are " broad and very obtuse." Linnaeus, in all his subsequently 

 published works, refers to the ' Hortus Cliffortianus ' as the authority 

 for his H. quadrangulum ; and as the plant so named in Smith's works 

 and figured in 'English Botany' agrees with that described by Lin- 

 naeus in having subulate calyx-leaves, there can be no doubt of its 

 being the Linnaean H. quadrangulum. 



Mr. Babington next shows that the plants named H. duhium by 

 Leers and Smith, H. quadrangulum by Fries and Wahlenberg, H. 

 maculatmn by Crantz and Allioni, and H. delphinense by Villars ; — 

 " constitute two well-defined and truly distinct species," although the 

 above names are generally considered synonymous. The paper con- 

 cludes with the descriptions and synonymes of the three species, so 

 far as the author has been able to determine the latter, " but in nearly 

 all cases, excluding the synonymes cited by the respective authors." 



1. Hypericum quadrangulum, Linn. Stem erect, 4-winged : leaves oval-oblong or 

 elliptical, with pellucid dots : sepals erect, lanceolate, acute, entire ; petals lanceolate. 

 '■'■Linn. Hort. Cliff. 380 ; Leers, Herb. 168 ; Crantz, Aust. 89 ; Sm. ! Fl. Brit. 801 ; 

 Eng. Bot. 370 ; Gaud. Helv. iv. 625 ; Host, Aust. ii. 78. H. tetrapterum, Fries, Nov. 

 Suec. (ed. 1) 94, (ed. 2) 236 ; Reich. ! Excurs. No. 5179; Koch, Syn. 134 ; Fl. Siles. 

 iii. 83; Kunth, Berol. i. 70 ; Bab. ! Prim. Sam. 19 ; Ldght. Shrop. 372. H. quadri- 

 alatum, Wahl. Suec. ii. 476. Androsasmum Ascyron dictum, caule quadrangulo gla- 

 bro, Morrison, ii. 471, sect. 5. tab. 6. lig. 10." 



" I have not ventured to refer to any of the other works of Linnaeus, 

 because he appears to have confounded the following species with this 

 in all his later works." — p. 87. 



2. H. dubium. Leers. Stem erect, obsoletely quadrangular : leaves elliptical, ob- 

 tuse, with few pellucid dots : sepals reflexed, broadly elliptical, obtuse, very entire, 

 with many black dots on the outside ; petals elliptical, with many black dots beneath. 

 " Leers, 169 ; Sm. ! Fl. Br. 802 ; Eng. Bot. 296 , Gaud. iv. 626 ; Wallr. Sched. Crit. 

 401 ; Host, ii. 79 ; Bocnningh. Monaster. 227. H. quadrangulum, Fries, 237 ; Ber- 



