522 Mutations 



more than 40 years. They are very constant 

 and have proven so in my experiments. Be- 

 sides these three species, the large-flowered 

 evening-primrose, or Oenothera Lamarckiana, 

 is found in some localities in Holland 

 and elsewhere. We know little concerning 

 its origin. It is supposed to have come 

 from America in the same way as its con- 

 geners, but as yet I have not been able to 

 ascertain on what grounds this supposition 

 rests. As far as I know, it has not been seen 

 growing wild in this country, though it may 

 have been overlooked. The fact that the 

 species of this group are subject to many sys- 

 tematic controversies and are combined by dif- 

 ferent writers into systematic species in differ- 

 ent ways, being often considered as varieties 

 of one or two types, easily accounts for it 

 having been overlooked. However, it would be 

 of great interest to ascertain whether 0. La- 

 marckiana actually grows in America, and 

 whether it is in the same state of mutability 

 here as it is in Holland. 



The large-flowered evening-primrose was cul- 

 tivated about the beginning of the former cen- 

 tury in the gardens of the Museum d'Histoire 

 Naturelle, at Paris, where it was noticed by 

 Lamarck, who at once distinguished it as an un- 

 described species. He wrote a complete descrip- 



