54 PHACELIA BIPINNATIFIDA.—BIPINNATE PHACELIA. 
for its great geographical range, being, as “the Botany of the 
Geological Survey of California” tells us, “common to the two 
Continents and ranges almost throughout their length,” meaning 
the Northern and Southern portions of this one Continent, for 
the genus is wholly confined to the Western Hemisphere,—and 
indeed nearly the whole of them are natives of the United 
States. 
The history of these Phacelias affords a lesson in the laws of 
nomenclature which it may be well to explain to the student as 
we pass along. Though we adopt the name first given by the 
botanist who describes the plant, the description which he gives 
with his name is not always accepted without modification. For 
instance Phacelia described by Jussieu requires the plants com- 
” while the 
genus as now described in the Botany of California has the 
corolla from “almost rotate to narrow funnel form.” Then the 
stamens according to Jussieu must be “exserted and styles 
short” to constitute a Phacelia, while Dr. Gray in the “ Sy- 
prising the genus to have corollas “ sub-campanulate ; 
nopsis” makes no generic reference to the stamens or pistils,— 
indeed some Phacelias, as we now understand them, have not 
exserted stamens, and as we may see in our plate, have styles 
that are certainly not short. In fact if a student were to read 
carefully the description of the genus as given by Jussieu, and 
then that by Brewer, Watson, or Dr. Gray, he could scarcely 
believe that the same plants were intended by the same name. 
Again we may have a lesson respecting the specific names. 
The author's name, which we attach to the name of a plant, does 
not imply that that author was the first who described the 
species, and who first made it known,—but that he was the 
person who applied that particular name to the plant. For 
instance, there is a plant which was known as £utoca sericea 
of Graham, and Curtis’ “ Botanical Magazine.” But Professor 
Gray does not recognize Zufoca as sufficiently distinct to form a 
separate genus from Phacelia, so he renames it, and it stands as 
Phacelia sericea of Gray. In this way Graham loses all credit, 
