IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
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or broad leav’d Tree-primrose, lie says, '‘The first sort is very common 
in most English gardens, where, when it has been suffered to scatter its 
seeds, it will come up and flourish without any care; and many times 
becomes a troublesome weed : this will thrive in the Srnoak of London, 
so that it is a very proper plant to adorn the City Gardens.” 
An important record and an accurate (colored) plate of Oenothera, 
is found in ^Miller’s Figures of plants in the Gardener’s Dictionary, the 
editions of 1760 and 1771 being practically identical. The figures in this 
work appear to be all natural size. Plate 188 is of 0. piimila and plate 
189, which is dated 1757, contains two figures. It is quite clear that these 
are what we now know as 0. muricata and 0. hiennis. Fig. 1 is cited 
as follows ; 
'‘Oenothera foUis lanceolatis dentatis, caule hispido. 
Tree Primrose with Spear-shaped indented Leaves, and a prickly Stalk. This 
is the Oenothera foliis lanceolatis capsulis acutangulis, Lin. Sp. Plant. 346. 
Tree Primrose with Spear-shaped Leaves, and Capsules with acute Angles. 
Tournefort titles it, Onagra angustifolia, caule ruhro, -flore minore, Inst. R. H, 
302. Narrow-leaved Tree Primrose with a red Stalk and a smaller Flower.” 
In describing Fig. 1 he says definitely that the style is shorter than 
the stamina, and this is clearly shown by the figure. As indicated by 
the synonomy, as well as shown by the figure, this is the 0. fruticosa of 
Linn. Sp. PI. Ed. 1, wdiich I have already shown is the plant we now 
know” as 0. muricata L. The size of the 'flowers, as well as the other 
characters, clearly correspond to certain races of this species, though the 
stem leaves appear to have been rather broader than typical. 
In describing Pig. 2, wn have the follow”ing : — 
“Oenothera foliis ovato-lanceolatis planis, Virid. Cliff. 33. 
Tree Primrose with oval Spear-shaped plain Leaves. This is the Oenothera 
foliis ovato — lanceolatis, denticulatis, florihus lateralihus in summo caulis, Hort. 
Cliff. 144. Tree Primrose with oval Spear-shaped indented Leaves, and Flowers 
proceeding from the wings of the Leaves on the upper Part of the Stalk. 
Tournefort titles it, Onagra latifolia, Inst. R. H. 302. Broad-leaved Tree Prim- 
rose; and by Caspar B’auhin, Lysimachia lutea corniculata, Pin. 245. Yellow 
horned Loosestrife.” 
The accompanying passage is quoted in MacDougal (1907), p. 5. The 
characters showm in the figure make it evident that this plant wns some 
race of wdiat w”e now^ call 0. hiennis, L. This is shown by the size of the 
flow”ers and by the fact that the style is short so that the stamens sur- 
round the stigma. This figure wnuld also, however, represent equally 
well certain hybrids between 0. hiennis and 0. Lamar ckiana. IMiller in 
referring the plant to the species of Linnaeus already cited in the Hort. 
Cliff, did the natural thing, seeing that Linnaeus had not made a separate 
