33 



SYNONYMY OF BURMANNIA AND GYROTHECA 



By Roland M. Harper 



A few weeks ago I had occasion to look up the synonymy of 

 Burmannia capitata, one of the plants I collected in Georgia 

 last summer, and found the following facts of interest in connec- 

 tion with it. 



In Heller's Catalogue of North American Plants, both edi- 

 tions, the name of this species is cited as B. capitata Chapm. 

 But Dr. Chapman was not the original author of the species, for 

 in his Flora of the Southern States, all editions, he gives as a 

 synonym Tripterella capitata Mx. Michaux based his species on 

 Vogelia capitata Gmel., and Gmelin refers to " Walt. flor. carol, 

 p. 69," where our plant seems to have been first described, 

 under the name of "Anonymos capitat.' 1 



Having traced the origin of the name back to Walter, it then 

 occurred to me that Dr. Morong a few years ago had published 

 the combination Gyrotheca capitata* based ort this same Anonymos 

 capitat. of Walter. On examining Walter's description, I noticed 

 that it applied undoubtedly to our Burmannia, and had nothing 

 whatever to do with Gyrotheca. But on the opposite page (68) 

 I noticed an Anonymos tinctori., the description of which clearly 

 applies to our Gyrotheca, and the cause of the trouble at once 

 became evident. 



It appears that Dr. Morong in some way got the two names 

 confused, for he says : " It is a little singular that Walter's spe- 

 cific name has . been changed into ' tinctoria ' by all the writers 

 who have quoted him, from Pursh to Kuntze. The plant is 

 placed by Walter among his ' Anonymo ' genera, the term he 

 uses when he is doubtful about the genus, but his description is 

 so full that no one can doubt what is meant." He then cites the 

 correct page, 68, but gives the wrong specific name, capitata. 



This error seems to have passed unnoticed ever since, having 

 been taken up in the " List of Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta 

 growing without cultivation in Northeastern North America " 

 *Bull. Torr. Club, 20: 472. D. 1893. 



