422 



THE AMEBIC AX XATURALIST [Vol. XLVI 



corroborative evidence we can hardly at, present accept 

 as beyond doubt the statement that the seeds of Carter 

 and Company were from Texan plants. 



It is a confused situation with a number of possible 

 explanations which are not worth a discussion until we 

 have more evidence at hand. This evidence may come 

 through other herbaria sheets comparable to the one in 

 the Gray Herbarium, although examinations by my corre- 

 spondents of the collections at the British Museum, at 

 Ke\\\ and at Cambridge University indicate that there is 

 nothing at these centers. Evidence may also come from 

 field studies in America, which should be pushed by 

 western and southern botanists in a position to observe 

 (Enothrra throughout the season. The writer sowed 

 about 200 seeds (60 years old) from one capsule on the 

 sheet in the Gray Herbarium, but there have been no 

 germinations after being four months in the seed pan ; the 

 experiment, a forlorn hope, needs no apology, considering 

 the importance of the problem — the composition of the 

 cultures of Carter and Company. 



The most important point for the writer's hypothesis 

 of the hybrid origin of (Enothera Lamarckiana as a cross 

 between hi enn is and g ran di flora is the strong evidence 

 that the cultures of Carter and Company contained forms 

 with characters in part gran fit flora-like and in part 

 bicnnis-Wke, for it must be remembered that Lamarckiana 

 in its hardy biennial habit and in other characters resem- 

 bles the latter species. It is possible that the plants were 

 hybrids at that period (1860) for if the sheet in the Gray 

 Herbarium is representative of the composition of these 

 .-nltnres, the plants were very different from the present 

 day Lamarckiana. Even if the plants of Carter and 



flora there would of conwe^ 



tunities for hybridization with biennis before De Vries, 

 a quarter of a century later, began his studies. 



