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1914) DE VRIES—OENOTHERA LAMARCKIANA 351 
Unfortunately, these two specimens do not belong to the same 
elementary species, but the question as to which of them is to be 
considered as the authentic specimen has been answered by all 
authors in the same way, with the exception of Davis. According 
to the general agreement, A (pl. XVII) is the type of the species. 
Davis has not seen this specimen, and has based his judgment 
upon the communications of botanists concerned with systematic 
rather than with elementary species. 3 
The plant A corresponds exactly with O. Lamarckiana Ser. as 
it is now universally cultivated and as I know it from my own 
cultures. The specimen is evidently a side branch, picked in the 
autumn, and the flowers, although very large, are not quite so 
large as may be seen in July and August. It bears no fruits, but 
the sexual organs of the flowers and the form of the flower buds 
do not leave the least doubt concerning its identity. The stigma 
lobes are widely spread and raised by the long style high above the 
tops of the anthers, and this is one of the best characters of 0: 
Lamarckiana. The buds are conical and thick, and not thin as 
In O. grandiflora Ait. For comparison, I have given a group of 
flower buds (pl. XVII), picked in the autumn also, from my pure 
cultures. All the other marks correspond to those of the present 
“Sinai although of course not all of them distinguish it from allied 
orms. 
This sheet bears the label, “d’Amérique sept., tige rameuse, 
haute de 3 a 4 pieds,” in the handwriting of Lamarck. The 
description in the Encyclopédie says of the origin of the species: 
“Cette espéce est originaire de l’Amérique septentrionale. On 
la cultive au jardin du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle (V.S.).’"5 
The description, however, quotes some points which are not visible 
on the herbarium specimen, nor on specimen B. It is therefore 
clear that the author knew his plants from another source still, 
Probably from the living material of the Jardin des Plantes. The 
Most interesting point for us is the description of the fruits: “Le 
fruit est une capsule courte, cylindrique, glabre, tronquée légére- 
ment, quadrangulaire, n’ayant environ que le tiers de la longueur 
*S V.S. (“vidi siccum”) means that the diagnosis is based on herbarium material. 
