240 Bradley Moore Davis. 



I have certain views on the subject but my purpose is not to 

 present them at this time but to plead that a strong effort be made 

 to fix the approximate date of the appearance in British 

 (Enothera floras of the biennis of Linnaeus (probably represented by 

 the Dutch plant) and of O. Laiuarckiana De Vries. The characters 

 that are likeiy to be most helpful in distinguishing these species on 

 herbarium sheets are : — 



1. The presence in Lamarckiana and absence in the Dutch 

 biennis (so far as is known) of red in the stem papillae. It must be 

 borne in mind, however, that some races close to the biennis of 

 Linnaeus have the stem coloration of Lamarckiana. 



2. The size of the petals, 4-4-5 cm. long in the large-flowered 

 forms of Lamarckiana and 2-2*5 cm. long in the Dutch biennis. 

 There are small-flowered races of Lamarckiana the petals of which 

 are of about the same size as those in the Dutch biennis, 



3. The position of the stigma 5-7 mm. above the tips of the 

 anthers in the large-flowered Lamarckiana (open pollinated) and 

 well below in the Dutch biennis (close pollinated in the bud). The 

 small-flowered races of Lamarckiana sometimes present the stigma 

 in a lower position more like that of the Dutch biennis. 



4. The coloration of the sepals, sometimes streaked with red 

 in Lamarckiana but normally green in the Dutch biennis. 



De Vries has suggested that what I have termed the small- 

 flowered forms of Lamarckiana may be hybrids between the large- 

 flowered type and biennis, but it is also possible that they are 

 variants from Lamarckiana, itself a hybrid. It seems most unlikely 

 that Great Britain has no herbarium sheets that can throw light 

 on these problems. 



Most interesting from my standpoint is the problem of the first 

 appearance in England of the progenitors of 0. Lamarckiana De 

 Vries. Were they certainly first introduced through the cultures 

 of Carter and Company, about I860, or were they in England and 

 perhaps on the sand hills of Lancashire previous to this date? Is 

 it possible that the plants of Carter and Company came not from 

 Texas but from some part of England, perhaps from the very sand 

 hills of Lancashire ? There certainly should be in British herbaria 

 some evidence on these questions. 



It seems to be impossible to determine with exactness what 

 are the forms under consideration in some of the descriptions 

 published at dates of great importance to our problem, and that is 

 why I have laid so much importance upon herbarium material. 



