New Species of Oenothera 523 



tion of it and his type specimens are still pre- 

 served in the herbarium of the Museum, where 

 I have compared them with the plants of my 

 own culture. Shortly afterwards it was re- 

 named by Seringe, in honor of its eminent dis- 

 coverer, whose name it now bears. So Lamarck 

 unconsciously discovered and described himself 

 the plant, which after a century, was to become 

 the means of an empirical demonstration of his 

 far-reaching views on the common origin of all 

 living beings. 



Oenothera Lamarckiana is considered in 

 Europe as a garden-plant, much prized for 

 parks and ornamental planting. It is cultivated 

 by seed-merchants and offered for sale. It has 

 escaped from gardens, and having abundant 

 means for rapid multiplication, has become wild 

 in many places. As far as I know its known 

 localities are small, and it is to be presumed 

 that in each of them the plant has escaped sep- 

 arately from culture. It was in this state that 

 I first met with this beautiful species. 

 J J Lamarck's evening-primrose is a stately 

 plant, with a stout stem, attaining often a height 

 of 1.6 meters and more. When not crowded the 

 main stem is surrounded by a large circle of 

 smaller branches, growing upwards from its 

 base so as often to form a dense bush. These 

 branches in their turn have numerous lateral 



