610 Mutations 



plants. It was not known until a few years be- 

 fore the close of the 16th century. Its history 

 has been described by the French botanist, Rose. 



It was seen for the first time in the garden of 

 Sprenger, an apothecary of Heidelberg, where 

 the C. majus had been cultivated for many 

 years. Sprenger discovered it in the year 1590, 

 and was struck by its peculiar and sharply de- 

 viating characters. He was anxious to know 

 whether it was a new plant and sent specimens 

 to Clusius and to Plater, the last of whom 

 transmitted them to Caspar Bauhin. These 

 botanists recognized the type as quite new and 

 Bauhin described it some years afterwards in 

 his Phytopinax under the name of Chelidonium 

 majus foliis quernis, or oak-leaved celandine. 

 The new variety soon provoked general interest 

 and was introduced into most of the botanical 

 gardens of Europe. It was recognized as quite 

 new, and repeated search has been made for it 

 in a wild state, but in vain. No other origin 

 has been discovered than that of Sprenger 's 

 garden. Afterwards it became naturalized in 

 England and elsewhere, but there is not the 

 least doubt as to its derivation in all the ob- 

 served cases. 



Hence its origin at Heidelberg is to be con- 

 sidered as historically proven, and it is of course 

 only legitimate to assume that it originated in 



