Remarks on the name Sarracenia laciniata Kerner 

 Harold N. Moldenke 



The name Sarracenia laciniata apparently occurs for the 



first time in botanical literature in A. J. Kerner von Marilau's 

 "Pflanzenleben," edition 1, volume 1, published in 1887. It is 

 not accompanied by any diagnosis or description and occurs 

 only in the legend (figure 3) under the illustration of several in- 

 sectivorous plants which is found on page 118. It is apparently 

 mentioned nowhere else in the text and is therefore a splendid 

 example of what is known technically as a hyponym. Although 

 effectively published (perhaps unintentionally) by Kerner at 

 this point, its publication cannot be considered valid according 

 to the international rules of nomenclature as adopted by the 

 great majority of the botanists of the world today. Kerner's 

 book is a splendid textbook and has always been widely used 

 in German-speaking countries. His figure, therefore, has cer- 

 tainly been seen by many hundreds of botanical students and 

 professors, and, indeed, has been widely copied by authors of 

 other texts. 



The next mention of the name is in the second edition of 

 Kerner's text, published in 1890. This was followed, in 1894, by 

 an English translation by F. W. Oliver, entitled "The Natural 

 History of Plants," where, on page 127 of the first volume, 

 Kerner's illustration is copied and where his name, Sarracenia 

 laciniata, occurs again under figure 3. In the same year (1894) 

 P. Constantin published his "Le Monde des Plantes" (as a part 

 of A. E. Brehm's "Marseilles de la Nature" series), and here 

 Kerner's illustration is again copied and his hyponymous name 

 is again used (volume 1, page 97, figure 145). 



In 1903 A. Hansgirg employed the same illustration and 

 name in his "Phyllobiologie" (page 228), and in 1911 L. H. 

 Pammel made use of both in his "A Manual of Poisonous 

 Plants" (page 498). This was followed, in 1913, by the third 

 edition of Kerner's "Pflanzenleben," where the same illustration 

 is used and the name is repeated without correction (volume 1, 

 page 311). 



Three editions have thus far been published of R. M. Hol- 

 man and \V. W. Robbins' very popular work entitled "A Text- 



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