356 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [may 



larger one, however, corresponds exactly with the species which 

 is now growing in many thousands of specimens near Samois on 

 the eastern limit of the ForSt de Fontainebleau, where I visited 

 the different stations with Dr. Blaringhem in October 1913. The 

 long fruits and the thick flower buds do not leave the least doubt 

 concerning the identity of this specimen. 



The most interesting discovery in this field of historical research, 

 however, is that of a specimen of 0. Lamarckiana Ser. in the col- 

 lection of MicHAUx, described recently by Blaringhem.^'' I had 

 the advantage of studying this sheet myself, when I visited Paris 

 in October 1913. The printed label says "Herb. Mus. Paris, 

 Herbier de I'Amerique septentrionale d' Andre Michaux." There 

 is no further indication of the locaHty and no name. The speci- 

 men is a main spike, picked in the begiiming of the flowering period, 

 and without fruits (pi. XIX). It is excellently preserved and 

 corresponds in all respects to my cultures of O. Lamarckiana Ser. 

 The lobes of the stigma are seen to be widely spread above the 

 anthers. The flowers and flower buds are exactly those of the 

 present species. 



Andrie Michaxjx died in 1802, after having tfiaveled during 

 twelve years through the eastern United States from the Hudson 

 River to Carolina. His celebrated collection constitutes one of 

 the best sources of oiu: knowledge of the flora of those parts of 

 America at the end of the eighteenth century, that is, of the same 

 period in which Lamarck published his volimies of the Encyclo- 

 pedic. His herbarium is at present at the Museiun d'Histoire 

 Naturelle at Paris, and his plants were described after his death 

 by his son Francois Andre Michaux in a book entitled 

 "Andraeas Michaux, Flora boreaU-americana, sistens characteres 

 plantarum quas in America septentrionaH coUegit Andraeas 

 Michaux."^' Michaux had the habit of collecting seeds of as 

 many species as possible, besides his herbarium specimens, and of 

 sending them to Europe to be sown. 



"J Blaionghem, L., ^Oenothera Lamarckiana Seringe et les Oenotheres de Fon- 

 tainebleau. Rev. G6n. Botanique 25:1914. 



=* Editio nova, 1820, Paris. The genus Oenothera is dealt with in vol. I on p. 214; 

 the plant is given under the name of 0. biennis. For the groupd covered by his travels, 

 see the preface and the article of Biaringhem. 



