I9I4] 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 (pi. 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. 



The plant A corresponds exactly with 0. 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, aire 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 0. grandiflora Ait. For comparison, I have given a group of 

 flower buds (pi. XVII), picked in the autimin also, from my pure 

 cultures. AU the other marks correspond to those of the present 

 species, although of course not all of them distinguish it from allied 

 forms. 



This sheet bears the label, "d'Amerique sept., tige rameuse, 

 haute de 3 a 4 pieds," in the handwriting of Lamarck. The 

 description in the Encyclopedie says of the origin of the species: 

 "Cette espece est originaire de I'Amerique septentrionale. On 

 la cultive au jardin du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle (V.S.).'"' 

 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 soxirce still, 

 probably from the hving material of the Jardin des Plantes. The 

 most interesting point for us is the description of the fruits: "Le 

 fruit est ime capsule courte, cylindrique, glabre, tronquee leg^re- 

 ment, quadrangulaire, n'ayant environ que le tiers de la longueur 



'5 V.S. ("vidi siccum") means that the diagnosis is based on herbarium materials 



