Macbride — New or otherwise interesting Liliaceae 19 
as shown by Wallich in his plate 144, Plant. As. Rar. ii. 38 (1831). 
Hooker, Fl. Brit. Ind. vi. 323 (1892) credits Wallich with having 
published, 1. c., a species S. albiflora Wall. As a matter of fact, 
Wallich merely indicates the existence of a white-flowered plant 
with simple inflorescence which he regards as possibly more than 
a white-flowered variety. He does not assign to it, however, a 
name, so that the first published name for this white-flowered form 
is that of Royle. 
PoLyGoNaTUM opoRATUM (Mill.) Druce, var. rene, ag (Link), 
comb. nov. P. oo Link in Schult. f. Syst. Veg. vu 
(1829). P. Polygonatum (L.) Jirasek, B. ambigum (Link) Aschers. 
& Graebn. Fl. Nordostd. Flachl. 196 ‘(189 8). P. officinale All., var. 
ambiguum (L rev: Schinz & Thell. in Schinz & Keller, Fl. Schweiz, 
ed. 3, ii. 66 (191 | 
Art. 55 of or ipiadational Rules states that specific names 
must be rejected “‘ when they merely repeat the generic name.” 
This plant, therefore, cannot be called Polygonatum Polygonatum 
but must be known by the next available specific name, odoratum. 
The variety ambiguum differs from the typical form of the species 
in the 3-5(rather than 1-2)- flowered peduncle. 
oar UNDERWOODII Posse igh bgp oy: (Muhl.), comb. 
nov essile L., var. lut m Muhl. C t. 38 (1813). T. teil 
(Mahl) ‘Harb. Biltm. Bot. St. i. 21 (190 ty 
As indicated by Gates, Annals Mo. Bot. Gard. iv. 46 (1917), 
this plant is distinguished from 7. Underwoodii merely by the 
yellow color of the flowers and may therefore best be treated as a 
variety especially since intermediate forms occur. There is great 
need for careful field-study of this group, characterized by T. ses- 
sile, since the finer differences between the species are not well- 
preserved in the herbarium. Of particular aging is fogs msi 
ship of the plant treated above to 7. sessile L., 
H. & A. (or perhaps better 7. giganteum (H. & A.) Heller) of re 
Pacific coast. It seems to me probable that only one variable 
Species is concerned here and if so T. Underwoodii is the first 
available specific name. On the other hand someone who has the 
opportunity to study living eastern and western material may find 
that there are a number of distinct things. In the meantime I 
_ think any attempt to treat satisfactorily the group from dried 
_ Specimens alone will prove futile. 

