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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XL V 



Let us suppose that it should be shown that (Enothera 

 Lamarckiana was in existence previous to the date 1778, 

 what effect would such evidence have on the hypothesis 

 that the form is a hybrid of biennis and grandiflora? It 

 would not in the writer's opinion have weight against 

 experimental proof that Lamarckiana or forms closely 

 resembling this plant may be synthesized as hybrids of 

 these wild American species. It would not prove that 

 Lamarck's plant in Paris (1797) was not a hybrid. It 

 would merely indicate that Lamarckiana, having arisen 

 as a hybrid in America, was introduced as such into Eu- 

 rope. As already pointed out, the position in grandiflora 

 of the stigma well above the anthers gives ample oppor- 

 tunity for chance hybridization in nature. Indeed, the 

 diverse forms that have appeared in my cultures from 

 seed of grandiflora collected in the field clearly show that 

 the species is far from homogeneous in character, a con- 

 dition that is probably due to a large amount of cross 

 pollination. It may be expected that careful search, es- 

 pecially in the southern United States, will bring to light 

 occasional plants with characters intermediate between 

 grandiflora and other species, such as, for example, 

 southern types of biennis, but it is also probable that the 

 behavior of such plants in culture will show them to be 

 heterozygous in character, i. e., hybrids. 



There have been two attempts to establish the presence 

 of Lamarckiana in Europe previous to 1778 when grandi- 

 flora was introduced at Kew. MacDougal ( '07, pp. 5, 6) 

 refers to Lamarckiana a description and figure of an 

 (Enothera by Miller, Plate 189, Fig. 2, for the 1 ' Gar- 

 dener's Dictionary," 1760. This figure, published in 

 1757, is of a large-flowered (Enothera with petals 2 or 

 2.2 cm. long and by its side (Fig. 1) is a smaller-flowered 

 form. With respect to the point under discussion, the 

 most important features of these figures, clearly shown 

 by the drawing, is the position and form of the stigmas, 

 well below the tips of the anthers and with the lobes 

 unexpanded in open flowers. These are peculiarities of 



