A MUCH DESIRED OENOTHERA 



147 



from Texas but from some part of England where large-flowered 

 Oenotheras were recorded at dates much earlier than 1860. That, 

 however, is a problem for the English botanists. It is plainly the 

 responsibility of American botanists to make every effort to bring 

 forward any form that may throw light on the source of the cul- 

 tures of Carter and Company. 



There is fortunately in the Gray Herbarium a sheet (fig. 1) 

 which contributes much more information on the probable com- 

 position of the cultures of Carter and Company than the brief 

 description and obviously inaccurate plate of the Floral Magazine. 

 The specimens on the sheet are from a plant grown in Cambridge, 

 Massachusetts in 1862 by Dr. Asa Gray. From the records upon 

 the sheet^ it appears quite certain that Dr. Gray received the 

 seeds from William Thompson of Ipswich, England, a seedsman 

 who probably obtained from Carter and Company their new 

 novelty. It is then possible that the plant grown by Dr. Gray 

 was not more than one or two generations removed from the 

 original cultures of Carter and Company. 



The following is a brief description of the specimens on the sheet 

 in the Gray Herbarium illustrated by figure 1. 



1. Stems and Foliage. The stem bears long hairs arising from papillae which are 

 colored red as in Lamarckiana and are about as numerous as in that species. The 

 large detached leaf, about 18.5 cm. long with sinuate margins, slightly lobed below, 

 and with some evidence of former crinkles, suggests by its shape (although too 

 small) the basal leaves of Lamarckiana. The leaves of the upper foliage, short 

 petioled, are not so nearly sessile as in Lamarckiana. 



2. Inflorescence. The inflorescence has longer internodes than in Lamarckiana 

 and consequently is not so compact. The bracts are broad at the base, slightly 

 toothed, and persistent, becoming large lanceolate leaves on the fruiting branches; 

 those of Lamarckiana remain much smaller. 



3. Buds. The buds are about 9.5 cm. long, not stout and 4-angled as in Lamarck- 

 iana. The sepal tips are more attenuate than in Lamarckiana, projecting 1 cm. 

 beyond the folded petals. The pubescence upon the sepals consists of long hairs 

 arising from papillae among much shorter sessile hairs as in Lamarckiana. 



4. Flowers. The petals are about 4.5 cm. long, as long as those of the largest 

 forms of Lamarckiana. The stigma lobes are about 8 mm. long, and close to 5 mm. 

 above the tips of the anthers, in these respects agreeing with large-flowered forms 

 of Lamarckiana. 



«See Davis, Am. Nat. 46: 417, 1912. 



