No. 532] Gl-IXETK AL > 77 />//. > OX (EXOTIIKUA 



225 



The Possible Origin of (Enothera Lamarckiana as a 

 Hybrid of 0. biennis and 0. gran /I iff or a 



We have shown that hybrids between certain strains 

 of (Enothera biennis and 0. grand [flora may be synthe- 

 sized, which approach somewhat closely to (Enothera La- 

 in n /■<■/,■ i an a, and there is good reason to believe that fur- 

 ther experimentation will result in the production of 

 forms with a more perfect resemblance. It is now im- 

 portant to ascertain, as far as this is possible, whether 

 there are any historical reasons why Lamarckiana may 

 not have arisen cither accidentally or intentionally from 

 such a cross. 



(Enothera Lamarckiana appears to have been under 

 cultivation in the gardens of the Museum d'Histoire Xat- 

 urelle at Paris in 1797, being described by Lamarck :; 

 under the name grandifiora. Shortly afterwards Se- 

 ringe 4 renamed the form Lamarckiana, recognizing it to 

 he distinct from the grandifiora of Ait on. 



As previously noted from the investigations of Mac- 

 Dougal ('05) and Vail ('05), the evidence is very clear 

 that grandifiora was introduced into England in 1778 and 

 was at that time under cultivation at Kew. Forms of 



dens for many years previous to 1778. There was there- 

 fore a period of about eighteen years ( 177S 1797) during 

 which hybrids between biennis and grandifiora might 

 have arisen in Europe before the earliest known record 

 of the cultivation of (Enothera Lamarckiana in Paris. 

 So striking an American novelty as (Enothera grandi- 

 fiora would almost certainly have been passed on from 

 Kew to other botanical gardens and in the interval be- 

 tween 1778 and 1797 is likely to have become widely dis- 

 tributed and cultivated. On historical grounds then 

 there seems to be no reason with respect to the date of 

 the first recorded recognition of (Enothera Lamarckiana 

 why this form might not have arisen in Europe as a 

 hybrid of biennis and grandifiora. 



