220 THE BOTANICAL MAGAZINE. I™, xxxi. No. ses. 



dass die Abbildungen nicht immer getreu sind, dass in der Umgrenzung 

 der Formen keine Kritik geiibt wurde, das"5 manchmal monstrose 

 Formen als Arten beschreiben wurden, wahrend scharf getrennt Arten 

 zusammengefasst werden, sind bekannte Fehler der Reichenbaehschen 

 Aconitum Arbeiten.' 



Except tbe related species of the Europaean Aconitum Napellus 

 together with those belonging to section Lyeoctonum, Reichenbach 

 never failed to classify the species correctly. His Kamtschatican 

 Aconitum Fischeri, A. Lubarskyi, A. maximum and A. KusnezofE. 

 are quite distinct and good species. 



During the past eleven years I have carefully studied the Japanese 

 species of Aconitum and their characters have gradually become compre- 

 hensible to me. The most remarkable of these are : — 



a) The specific characters are either reciprocal or combined and 

 neither independent nor single. 



b) The range of distribution is restricted. 



The former condition is due to the wide variation in the leaf, stem, 

 pubescence, flowers etc ; the latter to the unsuitable form of the seeds 

 and of the roots for their distribution. 



When they do not thrive but diminish in size the specific charact- 

 eristics do not develope properly, sometimes being wholly suppressed. 

 Many characters too disappear in dried specimens. So if the materials 

 are poor or dried, the distinctions in allied species more or less comple- 

 tely disappear. 



It is the general inclination of collectors in making dried specimens 

 to pick up plants of suitable size for their press. This is all right when 

 the plants are normally small. But if collectors choose the small 

 individuals out of normally large ones, the specimens the}' make are 

 generally of no use to botanists since they are misleading. For 

 example : — 



A small Aconitum yesoensc is scarcely distinguishable from A. corymbiferum- 

 „ A. Fischeri ,, A. neo-sachalinense. 



,, A. Fischeri ,, A. Lubarskyi. 



,, A. maximum ,, A. arcuatum. 



,, A. japonicum ,, A. subcuneatum. 



Among the fourty-two known Japanese species of Aconitum, 

 the following eighteen are common to two or more independent 

 regions. 



