376 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 949 



The Froblem of the Origin of (Enothera Lamarck- 



iana De Vries: B. M. Davis, University of 



Pennsylvania. 



The identification of Lamarck's evening prim- 

 rose, (Enothera Lamarclciana Seringe 1828 (0. 

 grandiflora Lamarck ?1798), as a form of (Eno- 

 thera grandi/lora Solander 1789,- has materially 

 changed the situation with respect to the origin of 

 the plant which has been the subject of such 

 extensive experimentation by Professor De Vries. 

 (Enothera Lamarclciana Seringe becomes a syn- 

 onym of 0. grandiflora Solander and the plant of 

 De Vries 's cultures is left without a name or at 

 least without the authority of Seringe. I have 

 proposed in the paper cited above that the name 

 Lamarclciana be kept for De Vries 's plant and 

 that the name be written (Enothera Lamarclciana 

 De Vries. The retention of the old name is justi- 

 fied by the fact that the Lamarclciana of De 

 Vries 's cultures is not known as a native species 

 in any part of the world and there is good reason 

 for believing that the plant has come down to us 

 as a hybrid and a product of a long period of 

 cultivation. To change the name of this plant 

 made famous by the studies of De Vries would 

 carry endless confusion through the literature of 

 experimental morphology. 



(Enothera Lamarclciana De Vries first appeared 

 on the market when introduced by the firm of 

 Carter and Company, seedsmen in London, about 

 1860. There is evidence from a sheet in the Gray 

 Herbarium ' that this plant underwent certain 

 modifications during the twenty-five years that 

 elapsed before De Vries began his studies upon 

 Lamarclciana. The problem of the origin of 

 (Enothera Lamarclciana then centers on the his- 

 tory and composition of the cultures of Carter and 

 Company. 



Carter and Company state that they received 

 their seed unnamed from Texas. If this is cor- 

 rect we have reason to hope that thorough ex- 

 ploration in the south and west may bring to light 

 large-flowered cenotheras from which Lamarclciana 

 might have been derived either directly or indi- 

 rectly as a hybrid. American botanists have then 

 the problem of the discovery and isolation by cul- 

 ture of any large-flowered Oenotheras in the south 

 and west which might have had a direct relation- 

 ship to Lamarclciana or which might have been 



- See Davis, Btill. Tor. Bot. Club, November, 

 1912. 



» See Davis, Amer. Nat., XLVL, p. 417, 1912. 



one of the parents of a possible cross. The re- 

 discovery of (Enothera grandiflora Solander in 

 Alabama was a good beginning in this search, but 

 the search should be pushed further. There is 

 thus a tangible problem of whether or not such 

 forms are or ever were present as native American 

 species. If they were present in Texas in 1860 

 they may surely be expected there to-day. 



The fact that large-flowered Oenotheras were 

 established in England as early as 1806 in locali- 

 ties (as the sand hills of Lancashire) which are at 

 present occupied by extensive growths of La- 

 marclciana suggests the possibility that Lamarlc- 

 iana was in England before 1860 and that the 

 cultures of Carter and Company may have come 

 not from Texas but from some part of England, 

 and that their association with a Texan source 

 may have been some mistake on the part of the 

 seedsmen. English botanists have the problem of 

 the history of such (Enothera floras as that of the 

 Lancashire sand hills, and collections should be 

 searched with great thoroughness for herbarium 

 sheets that may be of assistance in tracing its 

 development. 



With Lamarck's plant, grown in Paris about 

 1796, identified as a form of (Enothera grandiflora 

 Solander there has developed a much clearer situ- 

 ation than formerly when attempts were made to 

 place the time of the introduction into Europe 

 of 0. Lamarclciana De Vries at various dates pre- 

 vious to 1778, the year when 0. grandiflora Sol- 

 ander was introduced at Kew. There is then on 

 historical grounds no evidence why Lamarclciana 

 De Vries might not have arisen in England after 

 1778 as a hybrid between forms of grandiflora 

 and forms of biennis. This is the working hypoth- 

 esis which is receiving strong support from my 

 experimental studies with hybrids between strains 

 of biennis and grandiflora. 



An exhibit of hybrids between (Enothera biennis 

 and 0. grandiflora that resemble 0. Lamarclciana 

 De Vries was then discussed. 

 The Experimental Demonstration of the Validity 



of the Biological Doctrine of Recapitulation: 



E. C. Jeffrey, Harvard University. 

 The Plant Formations of the Nebraslca Sandhills: 



E. J. Pool, University of Nebraska. 



The sandhills of Nebraska cover an area of ap- 

 proximately 20,000 square miles, which lies to the 

 north and west of the central portion of the state. 

 The soil of the upland is a straw-colored sand 

 mostly of Tertiary origin. This sand has been 

 blown into innumerable dunes which cover the 



