58o 
E. D. MERRILL 
Commelina chinensis Osbeck, Dagbok Ostind. Resa 242. 1757 = 
Commelina nudiflora L. 
There is little doubt as to the correctness of this reduction. The 
original description is as follows: " Commelina chinensis. Chinensibus 
Ka-tjaa. Corolla aequalis; Caulis nodosus. Folia lineari-lanceolata, 
alterna, vaginantia, villosa, an Commelina nudiflora?" The descrip- 
tion of the leaves, as to shape, applies sufficiently well to the Linnaean 
species, but they are scarcely villous, although sometimes sparingly 
pubescent. The specimen was collected at Dane's Island, near 
Whampoa, October 20, 1751. The species is not listed in Index 
Kewensis. 
Convallaria chinensis Osbeck, Dagbok Ostind. Resa 220. 1757 = 
? Scilla chinensis Benth. 
This is probably the same as Scilla chinensis Benth. Fl. Hongk. 373. 
1861, but Bentham's specific name was not based on Osbeck's. The 
original description, which is entirely inadequate, is as follows: 
" Convallaria {chinensis) foliis linearibus, corollis sexpartitis. Obs. Est. 
quasi inter Scillas & Convallarias." The specimens were from 
' Frans " (= French) Island, near Whampoa, September 13, 1751. 
Cryptanthus chinensis Osbeck, Dagbok Ostind. Resa 215. 1757 = ? 
The Latin description of this new genus and species consists of 
four words only in the form of a footnote: "Foliis oppositis, Rubi facie." 
A short description is given in Swedish, of which the following is a 
translation: " In the direction of the city there grew a kind of small 
bush, about as high as gooseberry bushes, with double white flowers. 
The leaves are as large as those of the rose mallow, cordate, blunt- 
serrate, the margins with unequal lobes, pubescent on the upper sur- 
face, smooth beneath and with at least eight primary nerves, the 
flowers in terminal racemes." 
The description alone is insufiicient to identify this plant. The 
genus, which has escaped the attention of all botanists, is entirely 
different from Cryptanthus Otto & Dietr. (1836), Cryptanthus Nutt. 
(1849), and Cryptantha Lehm. (1836). The plant was from Dane's 
Island, near Whampoa, September 11, 1 751. 
Desmodium styracifolium (Osbeck) comb. nov. 
Hedysarum styracifolium Osbeck, Dagbok Ostind. Resa 247. 1757 ; 
L. Syst. Veg. ed. 10. 1169. 1759. 
