56 



to the statements of Kalm and Gronovius, but fails to com- 

 ment on Plukenet's Linden which has glabrous leaves. 



The European Lindens "with hexagonal fruit" of Plukenet 

 are not directly mentioned by Linnaeus in the announcement 

 of T. europaea (Sp. PI. 1: 514. 1753) and of its "varieties." 

 They appear, however, in cross reference for var. delta and 

 epsilon (cf. Ray, Syn. PI. Angl. 3: 473, nos, 3, 4, 1724). The 

 former "variety" is doubtful, and it may be suspected that 

 Linnaeus accepted it through Ray, o.c. I.e., from Merret (Pin. 

 Rer. Nat. Brit. 118. 1667) for the sake of a well rounded record, 

 which is not surprising to botanists familiar with the method 

 and the practice of Linnaeus. Var. epsilon is undoubtedly T. 

 platyphyllos. Plukenet describes it, in translation, as follows 

 (Almag. Bot. 368. 1696), "Native wild Linden with broad hir- 

 sute leaves and a 4-5-6-angled fruit." It is quite probable that 

 Plukenet had T. platyphyllos in mind comparing the Linden of 

 Maryland with very broad glabrous leaves with the Linden of 

 England with broad hairy leaves. Anyone familiar with the 

 European and American Lindens must agree that the compari- 

 son between T. platyphyllos and the Linden known to Sargent 

 as T. glabra is fundamentally a happy one. The American Lin- 

 den with glabrous leaves is not the species which modern authors 

 understand as T. heterophylla, T. Michauxii or T. neglecta. All 

 these have more or less thickly tomentose leaves. 



Sargent having underestimated Plukenet's note, lays stress 

 upon Gronovius' meaningless polynomial, wishing it to be 

 noted that a Linden from Clayton's region cannot be T. ameri- 

 cana. Sargent, unfortunately, misses the point that a proof 

 presented on grounds of habitat and phytogeography requires 

 a rigorous definition of geographic areas and a precise under- 

 standing of ecology. In the case under consideration the Vir- 

 ginia of Gronovius and of Linnaeus has the same value as the 

 Maryland^ of Plukenet and the Canada of Linnaeus, and no 



1 Plukenet (Mant. 181 1700) spells Terra Mariana, undoubtedly a mis- 

 print instead of Terra Mariana. No reference is implied to Terra Mariana or 

 Mariana (on modern maps Maurienne) in Savoy, France. The fruit of the 

 American Linden is said by Plukenet (o.c. I.e.) to be "identical to the fruit of 

 our (English) Lindens." The note is to be broadly interpreted, because the 

 fruit of T. americana is usually smooth, and that of T. platyphyllos more or less 

 evidently ribbed. Plukenet in all probability alludes to the like nature of the 

 fruit of the two species. 



