OBSERVATIONS ON SARRACENIA 



7 



to the herbarium and book of drawings made by Young, which are 

 in the Department of Botany of the British Museum- Numbers 

 are given on the herbarium sheets which portend to correspond 

 with like numbers on the sheets of drawings ; but a slight com- 

 parison shows that the specimens and drawings do not correspond* 

 On p. 11 of the herbarium is an example of 8. minor leaf, and 

 alongside it a flower that is more likely a small one of S. flava than 

 an average one of S. minor, though minute examination would 

 alone determine accurately. But No. 34 in the book of drawings 

 is a rough though quite topical illustration of S. psittacina, so that 

 both species must have been collected by Young before 1767. 



We now come to Walter's period. On a single page of his 

 "Herbarium Carolinianum," which is also preserved in the Depart- 

 ment of Botany, are examples with names attached of S. flava, S. 

 rubra, S. purpurea, and 5. lutea. The specimen bearing the last 

 name was published by Walter as S. minor, as has already been 

 pointed out by R. M. Harper." But S. lutea, though probably a 

 nomen nudum, has been more widely published than has hitherto 

 been suspected, and this through the medium of Frasers' Garden 

 Catalogues. Mr. Britten has reprinted two of these (Journ. Bot. 

 1899, 485 ; 1905, 329) from copies existing in the Department of 

 Botany, and Prof. Greene published a third — the latest in date and 

 botanically (though not in this case) the most important — in 

 Pittonia (ii. 116; 1890). In the earliest, probably published 

 1794-5, a footnote to the list of seeds offered for sale runs ; 

 "Living plants of the above seeds, as well as Phloxes, New 

 Magnolias, Bhododendrons, the four distinct species of Sarracenias 

 mentioned in Walter's Flora Carolina, &c, many of which are not 

 to be found as yet in any other persons' possession but himself, will 

 be ready for inspection in a short time.' 1 In the second Catalogue, 

 bearing date April 8th, 1796, it is said: u J. Fraser begs leave to 

 inform the public that he has completed his fifth voyage from 

 America, and has procured the following plants and seeds, which 

 he intends to dispose of at very moderate prices." Then, on the 



second page, are offered " Sarracenia flava, rubra, lutea, and pur- 

 purea"', so from this it is evident that the name lutea obtained 

 currency for a time. We may hazard the conjecture that S. lutea 

 probably originated with the Fraser firm, but for some reason was 

 rejected by Walter in favour of his 8. minor. The third Fraser 

 Catalogue merely says, M Sarracenia, four species." 



In the volume of drawings prepared by W. Bartram for Dr. 

 Fothergill, now in the Department of Botany, British Museum, is a 

 bold and characteristic figure of 8. minor (p. 68), which must have 

 been made before 1780. This may be the plant intended by 

 W. Bartram under the name S. galeata, published (without descrip- 

 tion) in the Introduction to his Travels (p. xviii). It must however 

 be borne in mind that he must often have traversed hundreds of 

 acres of land abounding in 8. psittacina, and it is quite possible that 

 this was the species he intended by the name. 



* Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, xxx. 331 (1903). 



