A Distinction without a Difference. 341 



A DISTINCTION WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE. 



By Francis Parkman, Jamaica Plain, Mass. 



Incorrect nomenclature is said to be the vice of commercial gardening. 

 To this we would add the vice of superfluous nomenclature. The need- 

 less multiplication of names may be, and doubtless often is, a source of 

 profit to nursery-men ; but it is no less a source of loss and vexation to 

 their customers. Distinctive names are given to varieties which are no- 

 really distinct. ^Ve will point out a few examples in the family of lilies, 

 whereby we may save some of our readers a needless expenditure both of 

 money and good-humor. 



We begin with a flagrant instance, in which we ourselves have been 

 "let in." Some years ago, a list of new lilies from Japan appeared among 

 the " novelties " in the catalogue of a European nursery-man. They bore 

 names of which the following are the principal examples : Kikak, Gemi-gajo, 

 Syj'eis, Liu-kiii, Fea-Kwam, and yachal, besides several more, equally fan- 

 tastic. Now, with the exception of Liu-kiu, these are mere varieties of Z. 

 Thunbergianiini, in no way remarkable, being neither distinct from each 

 other, nor from other varieties of the species, yachal and Fcu-Kwam are 

 yellow and orange-scarlet. The rest are yellowish-bufi", with a few small 

 black spots. Whether the trick originated with some enterprising Japanese 

 gardener, or with some equally enterprising spirit on the other side of the 

 planet, we cannot say. 



Liu-kiu^ we have said, is different from the rest. And this leads to another 

 illustration of our subject ; for it is nothing but the familiar L. longiflorum, 

 with a slight elongation of one of the petals, which is far from improving 

 it, and makes a very indifferent argument for charging fifteen cents for the 

 one, and a dollar for the other. L. longiflonim has other twin-brothers, high 

 in price, yet scarcely differing from it except in their christening, though cost- 

 ing from three to ten times as much. One of these is Z. exifniiim, in which 

 nothing but the most attentive examination can detect the faintest differ- 

 ence from Z. longifloncm. L. Takesima is a little more distinct ; for its stem 

 is shaded with a dark hue, and its growth is a little taller : yet only a close 

 observer can see the difference. 



