6 AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 
let him remember that up until a few years ago the taxonomist 
had to do and actually did the ecologist’s work besides his own 
of determination and classification. I dare say he was well pre- 
pared for his work being doubly trained to it by necessity as an 
observer in the field, and an exact student keen and quick to see 
distinctions which are noticed only after long experience. 
I had for a long time entertained the suspicion that Linnaeus 
was not the first to have noticed that the European Water Smart- 
weed, lived on land and in water in different phases. I had spent 
some time even before becoming at all generally interested in the 
members of this group of plants, in tracing back the history of 
P. amphibia, a- matter not as easy to a beginner as it might at 
first seem; for the names given by some pre-Linnaean writers 
were not the same as ours. A clue to the possible origin of the 
‘Linnaean trivial name P. amphibium was found when coming 
by chance upon a reference to the plant in Gilibert’s History of 
Plants of 1806.* The Flora Suecica 1745 of Linnaeus contains the 
description of a possible clue to the origin of the name itself, whereas 
J. Ray’s History of Plants quoted by Gilibert describes the eco- 
logical facts that probably led to the giving of the name. I 
shall quote as much of the passages in the original as are necessary 
to ake the statements clear. 
“gog La Persicaire amphibie, Polygonum amphibium UL. 
A fleur 4 cing étamines; 4 style fendu en deux; 4a épi ovale; a 
feuilles ovales, lancéolées, cili¢ées. Dans les lieux aquatiques, au 
Broteaux, a Oullins, et dans les terrains secs, a la Carette. Fleurit 
en Aotit. 
Persicaria Salicis folio, Potamogeton angustifolvum dictum. Rai. 
hist. 184. Perstcaria Salicis folio, perennis. Hort. Lugdun. Batav. 
Dod. pempt. 482, fig. 1. Lob. icon. 307, fig. 2. Hist. Lugd. 1008, 
fig. I. 
Rai a fort bien remarqué que cette plante n’étoit qu’une 
varieté du Potomogeton Salicis folio, C. Bauhin. Pin., qui se trouvant 
hors de 1’eau, change de forme, et en impose aux plus habiles 
Botanistes; mais il est aisé de voir que ce n’est qu’un déguisement 
de la méme plante, parsqu’on trouve souvent sur le méme pied 
des feuilles lisses et luisantes, et d’autres qui sont semblable a 
celles du Saule, mais plus longues, rudes, et velues: il faut rapporter 
* Gilibert, J. E. Historie des Plantes D’Europe et Etrangers, Ou 
Elemens de Botanique Pratique, 2nd, Edition, 1806. p. Vol, L., p. 453. 
. 
