54 PHACELIA BIPINNATIFIDA. BIPINNATE PHACELIA. 



for its great geographical range, being, as "the Botany of the 

 Geological Survey of California" tells us, "common to the two 

 Continents and ranges almost throughout their length," meaning 

 the Northern and Southern portions of this one Continent, for 

 the genus is wholly confined to the Western Hemisphere, — and 

 indeed nearly the whole of them are natives of the United 

 States. 



The history of these Phacelias affords a lesson in the laws of 

 nomenclature which it may be well to explain to the student as 

 we pass along. Though we adopt the name first given by the 

 botanist who describes the plant, the description which he gives 

 with his name is not always accepted without modificadon. For 

 instance Phacelia described by Jussieu requires the plants com.- 

 prising the genus to have corollas " sub-campanulate ; " while the 

 genus as now described in the Botany of California has the 

 corolla from "almost rotate to narrow funnel form." Then the 

 stamens according to Jussieu must be "exserted and styles 

 short " to consdtute a Phacelia, while Dr. Gray in the " Sy- 

 nopsis " makes no generic reference to the stamens or pistils, — 

 indeed some Phacelias, as we now understand them, have not 

 exserted stamens, and as we may see in our plate, have styles 

 that are certainly not short. In fact if a student were to read 

 carefully the description of the genus as given by Jussieu, and 

 then that by Brewer, Watson, or Dr. Gray, he could scarcely 

 believe that the same plants were intended by the same name. 



Again we may have a lesson respecUng the specific names. 

 The author's name, which we attach to the name of a plant, does 

 not imply that that author was the first who described the 

 species, and who first made it known, — but that he was the 

 person who applied that pardcular name to the plant. For 

 instance, there is a plant which was known as Eutoca sericea 

 of Graham, and Curtis' " Botanical Magazine." But Professor 

 Gray does not recognize EtUoca as sufficiently disUnct to form a 

 separate genus from Phacelia, so he renames it, and it stands as 

 Phacelia sericea of Gray. In this way Graham loses all credit, 



