153 



" The Linnaean and other early-known species of Crataegus,'^ 

 by Mr. W. W. Eggleston. 



The earliest record found of American Crataegi is by Caspar 

 Bauhin, in 1623. It is as follows : 



" Mespilus virginiana colore riitilo. Mespilns, qui colore est rii- 

 tilo ut cerasa & valde didcis, part I, Ind. occid." 



The latter part of this quotation probably refers to the Historia 

 Medicinal, by Monardes, published in 1569. 



Lists of plants raised in the botanical garden at Leiden, pub- 

 lished by Hermann in 1687, by Boerhaave in 1720, and by Royen 

 in 1740, and in the Schola Botanica published at Paris in 1687, 

 as well as Linnaeus's own lists (Hort. Cliffortianus and Hort. 

 Upsaliensis), give short references to American Crataegi ; but it 

 is to the English botanist Plukenet that we owe our first real 

 knowledge of American thorns. His plates and descriptions are 

 referred to by Linnaeus, and these, with his references, are inval- 

 uable to us. 



Contemporary with Plukenet was Ray, who also added some- 

 what to our knowledge. John Banister of Jamestown or Will- 

 iamsburg, Va., must have contributed much to Plukenet's knowl- 

 edge, as he was the first English botanist to live in Virginia, and 

 as he sent many seeds and specimens to England. 



This Chesapeake Bay region produced all of the Linnaean 

 species, except the one that has been referred to as C. tonientosa. 

 This might have been brought from farther back in the country, 

 perhaps by the Indians, as it was one of the earliest thorns 

 raised in England, and is not found in the coastal plain. 



In Plukenet's Phytographia, published in 1591, are five figures 

 of American Crataegi ; Plukenet says that he saw the species il- 

 lustrated in his plate 46, fig. i, in the garden of the Hon. Charles 

 Howard in Surrey. This specimen Linnaeus refers to Crataegus 

 Criis-galli. A colored plate of it is published in the " List of 

 Plants raised for sale by the English Gardeners about London " 

 (Hort. Brit.), published in 1730. This is the plant labelled in 

 the Linnaean herbarium as C. tonientosa. About this Miller was 

 undoubtedly right, for Plukenet's description will cover no 

 other American thorn, certainly none other that was raised in 

 England at that time. 



