PENNELL: STUDIES IN, THE AGALINANAE 121 
First among these was evidently Walter. In his Flora Caro- 
liniana (1788) so far as our North American species are concerned, 
he relegates Gerardia to synonymy, and, not wishing to coin a 
new name, places purpurea, flava and pedicularia in one of his 
numerous genera called Anonymos. 
In 1810 in treating Gerardia in Rees’ Cyclopedia Sir James E. 
Smith, after listing first Linnaeus’ tuberosa, remarks upon its 
identity being yet doubtful and suggests as a desideratum an 
examination of its fruit. Then he makes this statement. ‘‘What- 
ever might be the result of such examination this plant must 
be the true though it were the only Gerardia, and the rest in 
that case must have a new generic appellation and character.” 
This is the first definite assignment of a type species for the 
genus. 
As to the further history of Gerardia tuberosa L., after Sir J. E. 
Smith I find no writer retaining this plant in the Rhinanthaceae. 
In 1825 Sprengel interpreted it as a synonym of Ruellia rupestris 
Swartz, an Acanthaceous plant, whence in 1847 it was carried 
into the new genus Stenandrium of Nees, becoming a synonym of 
Stenandrium rupestre (Swartz) Nees. If this identification be 
correct Stenandrium Nees should become Gerardia (Plumier) L. 
Though antedating the erection of Stenandriwm into a genus, such 
a change was actually made by Rafinesque in his Flora Telluriana 
in 1838, where Gerardia tuberosa L., G. rupestris (Swartz) Raf., 
and G. scabrosa (Swartz) Raf. are cited. 
In 1835 Bentham in his ‘‘Synopsis of the Gerardieae”’ discusses 
the past history quite fully, definitely relegates G. tuberosa L. 
to the Acanthaceae, and endorses the earlier selection, practically 
made by Sprengel, of G. purpurea L. as the type. This view has 
been mostly followed till the present day. 
If Gerardia is properly an Acanthaceous genus what name is 
to be applied to our familiar North American species commonly 
so called? 
Of the Linnaean species of this genus to be retained in the 
Rhinanthaceae three were North American and one Chinese, the 
latter however not proving a near ally of the others. Species 
continued to be added from both hemispheres till as late as 1846 
when in DeCandolle’s Prodromus Bentham finally separated the 
