Vol. i No. 3 



TORREYA 



March, igoi 



A NEW HORSE GENTIAN (TRIOSTEUM) COMMON 

 IN THE EASTERN STATES 



By Eugene P. Bicknell 



Notwithstanding that Rafinesque, in 1836, proposed six species 

 of Triostettm in addition to the two which had come down from 

 the time of Linnaeus, these two alone continue to represent the 

 genus in our manuals of to-day. There is, nevertheless, a third 

 species, quite a common one, which seems to have escaped rec- 

 ognition as effectually as if it did not exist. Its discovery, now 

 some years ago, was quite a matter of accident, and affords a 

 good illustration of the utility of botanical gardens in the study 

 of our flora. 



In the early days of the New York Botanical Garden, while 

 passing through the grounds one Saturday afternoon in company 

 with Dr. Britton, I rather surprised my companion by asking the 

 name of a Triosteum cultivated in the herbaceous beds. My own 

 surprise was in turn excited upon learning that the plant was merely 

 the common T.pcrfoliatum L. and I insisted that it was, neverthe- 

 less, a species different from the plant with which I was familiar as 

 T. perfoliatum and which actually grew in its native state on the 

 grounds of my own home. The cultivated specimen had been 

 brought from Staten Island, near Dr. Britton's home, and the fol- 

 lowing day an opportunity was found of visiting, under Dr. Brit- 

 ton's guidance, the very piece of woodland from which the plant had 

 been removed. There, in its natural surroundings, we found more of 

 it, and the interesting fact at once developed that it was distinctly 

 later-flowering than the species of my own region twenty miles 



[The exact date of publication of each issue of Tokreya is given in the succeed- 

 ing number. Vol. I, No. 2, comprising pages 13-24, was issued February 23, 1901.] 



