122 



that time nearly every Veratriim collected between the Pacific 

 ocean and the Mississippi valley has been referred to it. The 

 original description reads as follows: 



"Caulis robustus, foliosus, pubescens, foliis ovato-lanceolatis, 

 acuminatis, plicatis, glabris, imis caulinaribiis in petiolum atten- 

 uatis et cum eo circa pedalibus; superioribus sessilibus, subvagi- 

 nantibus. Racemo valde pubescenti, paniculate et circiter ped- 

 ali; floribus breve pedicellatis, polygamus; sepalis ovatis obovat- 

 isve, persistentibus, in sicco fuscis et purpureo ad basim macu- 

 latis, antheris reniformibus posticis, antice dehiscentibus; stylis 

 brevibus, recurvis. 



"This is undoubtedly different from V. viride of which I 

 have seen specimens from Oregon, perfectly similar to our east- 

 ern plant, except that the leaves are almost round. The color 

 and shape of petals differ entirely. V. viride has greenish flow- 

 ers with narrow elongated petals drying green. V. California 

 cum on the contrar)-, like Melanthium Virginicum^ dries purple, 

 and has ovate sepals, marked at the base with a deep brown 

 spot. The bracts in V. zm-ide are very long and narrow, those 

 of V. Califor7iicii7n are scarcel}' longer than the short pedicel, 

 and are oval and concave, the leaves also are quite different; 

 they are broadly ovate in the former, and ovate-lanceolate in 

 Mr. Pratten's plant." 



In 1899 while at the New York Botanical Garden I made 

 the following note: 



"In the herbarium of Columbia University is a fragment of 

 a flowering branch, evidently taken from the type of this species. 

 With it is the legend: 'Fragment of a specimen from California. 

 Reed from Mr. Durand, Dec. 1854.' The perianth segments are 

 broadly ovate or obovate, about 7 mm. long, 4-5 mm. wide. 

 The only specimen of late collections which I would confidently 

 refer to this species is H. E. Brown's 579, collected on the south 

 side of Mt. Shasta, California, July, 1897." 



In 1902 I examined Durand's type in the herbarium of the 

 Philadelphia Academy, and found that my judgment concerning 



