BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 
33 
longitudinal white patch on the leaves, mentioned by most 
authors as the chief characteristic of the species. 
Dr. Hooker however, says, that the flowers are constantly 
purple, and adds, on the testimony of Sir James Smith, that 
the large white spot on the leaves appears principally in the 
winter and early in spring ; but he continues, “ they are not 
represented so in the English Botany, and the plant is widely 
different from what is cultivated as L. maculatum in our 
gardens, which has the leaves vastly smaller, with a large 
white spot on all of them, and is well figured as the true 
maculatum, in Reichenbach’s Ichonographia.” — British Flora. 
Now, as far as my limited experience goes, I should con- 
sider that Sir James Smith was quite correct in his descrip- 
tion of the plant as the true maculatum; and that the 
specimen from which his figure was taken, was at the time 
destitute of the white patches on the leaves. Further, since 
we find the leaves of L. purpureum to be invariably smaller 
than those of either maculatum or album ; and since we know 
that changes in the colours of leaves, as well as of flowers, 
take place from different soils and modes of culture, I am 
induced to believe, that the garden-plant figured by Reichen- 
bach as the true maculatum, and adopted by Dr. Hooker 
as such, is no other than purpureum. Or, since this would 
be doubting the accuracy of those illustrious Botanists, it is 
on the other hand highly probable, that Reichenbach and 
Hooker’s specimens might have been monstrous vegetables, 
uniting certain qualities of the two in one ; for we know 
that such structural changes in plants do take place, and 
tend more to mislead, than if we take nature herself for our 
guide. 
With regard to the whorls — their number cannot alone be 
reasonably regarded as a specific mark of distinction ; and 
in this consists the chief difference between maculatum and 
album. Dr. Lindley disregards these, the whorls, and unites 
the two as varieties ; making purpureum a separate species, 
and giving to them the specific name of vulgatum. He 
however makes no mention of the leaves being inciso-serrate, 
while this is particularly remarkable in both plants. 
I would direct attention, therefore, to the following facts, 
which strongly support the assumption, that album and ma- 
culatum, are but varieties of one and the same species. The 
leaves, in both, are invariably serrate, or inciso-serrate; in 
maculatum, they grow to as large a size as in album, have the 
same appearance, and are both subject to the occasional or 
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