﻿19X6] GATES-^PAIRS OF SPECIES 199 



Hence the occurrence of such minor differences in addition to the 

 conspicuous ones is not a difficulty which requires to be explained 

 by the assumption often tacitly made, namely that inherited 

 environmental effects have led to these slight divergences. 



We may now examine briefly the whole genus Actaea as it stands 

 at present. Taxonomically considered, the species are as follows: 



1. Actaea alba (L.) Mill. 



Actaea spkata var. alba L. Sp. PI. 504. 1753- 

 Actaea alba Mill. Gard. Dist. ed. 8. 1768; Icon. Corn. Canad. /. 77- 

 Actaea americana var. alba Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 1:366. 1814. 

 Actaea brackypetala var. alba DC. Reg. Veg. 1:385. 1818. 

 Actaea brackypetala var. microcarpa" DC. Reg. Veg. 1:385. 1818. 

 Actaea pachypoda Ell. Sketch 2:15. 1824. 

 Actaea alba Bigelow, Fl. Bost. ed. 2. 211. 1824. 

 Christophoriana americana Park. Theatr. Bot. 379. 1640. 



2. Actaea rubra (Ait.) Willd. 



Actaea spicata var. rubra Ait. Hort. Kew 2:221. 1789. 

 Actaea rubra Willd. Enum. Hort. Berol. 561. 1809. 

 Actaea longipes Spach, Hist. Veg. Phan. 7:388. 1839. 

 Actaea brackypetala var. rubra DC. Reg. Veg. 1:385. 1818. 

 Actaea americana /S rubra Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 2:367. 1814. 



Said by Greene" to differ from the European A. spicata L. in that (1) the 

 lowest leaf is inserted high above ground (not radical), and (2) the berries are 

 cherry red, not black. As noted by Pursh and embodied in the name of 

 DeCandolle, the American species also has shorter petals, the petals of 

 A. spicata L. being as long as the stamens. According to Spach, however. 



A variety of the European A. spicata under the names A. erythrocarpa 

 Fisch. and A. rubra Ledeb. differs in having red instead of black berries, pre- 

 sumably a simple unit change. 



2a. Actaea rubra dissecta Britton, having decompound 

 leaves and incised leaflets, has been recorded from Lincoln County. 

 Ontario, in Brittox and Brown, 111. Fl. 2: 55. 1897. 



'"'Baccis panis albis subrubellis, pediculis incrassatis." This is apparently 

 the pink-berried form sometimes mentioned. 

 "Pittonia 2:108. 1890. 



