SOLIDAGO ULMIFOLIA.—ELM-LEAVED GOLDEN-ROD. 107 
Iedve of variation increases, the tendency of the best botanists is 
to unite forms rather than to name new species for every little 
shade of difference. The herbalist, to whom we have already 
referred, gives a figure of what he calls the “Golden-rod with 
dented leaves,’ and then refers to the “American Golden-rod,” 
of which he says: “This Plant is so like to the other, that the Fig- 
ure of that may very well serve for this without any considerable 
Error;”’ and though this expression may excite a smile from the 
accurate botanist of the present day, it must be confessed that 
the tendency in the past was too much in the way of making 
distinct species, or at least of giving distinct names to every 
slight deviation from an assumed typical form. Even of our 
present species, Solidago ulmifolia, Dr. Gray says in the “ Man- 
ual,” “too near Solidago altissima, distinguished only by its 
smooth stem and the larger leaves.” 
It may be here noted that the name a/z7/folia, meaning having 
leaves like an C7mus or Elm, is calculated to mislead, for the 
leaf has no great resemblance to that of an Elm. Willdenow, 
under botanical rules which call for a description and name, 
should properly be credited with this one, as he first published 
a description of it, though he gives credit to Muhlenberg as 
having sent him the name. It appears however that Muhlen- 
berg sent out to others a different species under this designation, 
and it is probable, from the unlikeness of this to an Elm, that it 
was not the one originally intended to bear the name; but as 
names are intended to be “only names,” this is now of little 
consequence, except as a matter of history. 
The name of the genus Solidago is usually referred to Lin- 
nzus, though he credits it to Vaillant, one of the great botanists 
of the generation which immediately preceded his. It is said to 
have been derived from sofdius, a Latin word meaning making 
whole or solid, and to be given to the “virga-aurea,” from its 
medical reputation. Salmon, the herbalist of the beginning of the 
seventeenth century, says: “It is one of the most noble Wound- 
Herbs; cures Wounds and Ulcers.” It also appears to have 
