Viburnum Rafinesquianum Schultes 

 Homer D. House 



This common Viburnum of the eastern United States has 

 had applied to it during the past few decades at least three 

 different names. Long known as Viburnum pubescens 1 a name 

 now applied to a more southern species described by Britton as 

 Viburnum venosum, 2 it finally came to be known as Viburnum 

 affine Bush, var. hypomalacum Blake. 3 Early writers were wont 

 to refer Viburnum villosum Raf., 4 not Swartz, 1788 (Viburnum 

 Rafinesquianum Schultes 5 ) to this species, although Blake (I.e. 

 13) seems to hold that the phrase "umbel 5-fidus" used by 

 Rafinesque in his very brief and rather inadequate description 

 disqualifies the name. 



Long convinced that Rafinesque could have had under con- 

 sideration no other eastern Viburnum the writer undertook an 

 examination of the umbels of this species, with the result that 

 out of 182 umbels examined, three were 8-rayed, thirty-nine 

 were 7-rayed, thirty-four were 6-rayed, sixteen were 5-rayed, 

 eight were 4-rayed and two were 3-rayed. Hence it seems proba- 

 ble and altogether likely that Rafinesque had before him a 5- 

 rayed specimen which was described without consultation of 

 additional material. The name as emended by Schultes should 

 be adopted for this species as has been recently done by Small. 6 

 The western form of this species then is to be designated as: 



Viburnum Rafinesquianum Schultes, var. affine (Bush) comb, 

 nov. Viburnum affine Bush; Schneider, 111. Handb. Laubh. 2: 

 649. f. 415, 1-m. 1911— Blake, Rhodora20: 14. 1918. 



The range of this variety has recently been found to extend 

 eastward to Harris Hill, Erie county, New York, where collec- 

 tions have been made by the late F. W. Johnson, and more re- 

 cently by Mr. C. A. Zenkert. 



New York State Museum, 

 Albany, N.Y. 



1 Robinson & Fernald, Gray's Manual, ed. 7, 759. 1908 — Britton & Brown, 

 Illustrated Flora of the Northern States and Canada, ed. 2, 3: 271. 1913. 



2 Britton, N. L. Manual of the Flora of the Northern States and Canada, 

 ed. 1,871. 1901. 



3 Rhodora20: 14. 1918. 



4 Med. Rep. II. 5:361. 1808. 

 5 Syst. 6: 630. 1820. 



6 Manual of the Southern Flora, 1271, 1933. 



126 



