MUTANTS AND HYBRIDS OF THE OENOTHERAS. 5 



DERIVATION OF ONAGRA (OENOTHERA) EAMARCKIANA. 



As a result of the earlier examination of material in a few her- 

 baria in Europe and America no specimens of O. latnarckiana were 

 found that had been grown in America, and it was suggested that it 

 might have been originally native to a restricted range in Virginia 

 from which it had been exterminated. The inquiry upon this phase 

 of the investigation has been continued however, with the result that 

 many historical records, as well as some fairly well authenticated 

 material, have been found. 



Barton (1821) describes an Oenothera under the name of O. 

 grandiflora in his Flora of North America, which, with the accom- 

 panying plate, well represents O. latnarckiana. (PI. II.) This plant 

 is described as " native in the woods and fields, and about habi- 

 tations, in Carolina and Georgia, flowering from May to August." 

 The fact is recalled by Barton that Elliott restricted the habitat of this 

 form "to the vicinity of habitations in South Carolina and Georgia, 

 remarking that it is certainly not indigenous in the low country." 



Pursh (1814) had previously described an O. grandiflora similar 

 to that mentioned by Bartram, as "in woods and fields of Carolina," 

 and with ' ' flowers larger than any other of the North American 

 species, and of an agreeable scent." 



The Floral Magazine for 1862 gives a plate of Oenothera lamarck- 

 iana with some notes on the species from which the following is 

 quoted: The one now figured was grown by Messrs. Carter & Co., 

 the well-known seedsmen of High Holborn and of the Crystal Palace 

 nursery, Forest Hill. To them we are indebted for the following- 

 particulars (Dombrain, 1862): 



We received, about four years ago, some seed from Texas unnamed. When 

 we had flowered it we sent some blooms to Dr. LJndley, who pronounced it to be 

 Oenothera latnarckiana, a species we believe introduced into England by Mr. 

 Drummond. Its height is between 3 and 4 feet; it blooms the first year, is a 

 very hardy biennial, and is superior to any other Oenothera in the size and num- 

 ber of its blossoms, which measure 4 inches in diameter. 



A reproduction of the same plate is to be found in L,' Illustration 

 Horticole for 1862, together with a discussion of the origin and rela- 

 tionships of the various species and a citation of the statements quoted 

 above. (Leniaire, 1862.) 



A specimen in the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University was 

 examined which agrees perfectly with O. latnarckiana. From the 

 inscription, which is in Dr. Asa Gray's handwriting, it appears that 

 this plant was grown from seed in the botanical garden at Cambridge, 

 Mass., in 1862. The sheet also bears the note, ' ' Said by English hor- 



