502 
Gillenia  Trifoliata. 
/  Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     October,  1898. 
Spircea  trifoliata,  foliis  ternatis  serratis  subcequalibus  floribus  subpani- 
calatis.  In  establishing  the  binomial  system,  his  evident  practice 
was  to  retain  the  first  or  last  term  for  his  specific  name.  Though 
not  always  appropriate,  this  method  preserved  the  connection  of 
the  plant  with  its  earlier  history.  In  this  case,  the  term  trifoliata  is 
sufficiently  appropriate.  It  continued  as  Spircea  until  1802,  when 
Conrad  Moench,  in  a  supplement  to  a  local  flora  of  the  city  of  Mar- 
burg, in  Austria,  noting  its  tubular  campanulate  seed  vessel,  included 
stamens,  and  its  peculiar  carpels,  named  it  Gillenia,  as  distinct  from 
Spircea,  which  determination  has  been  accepted  by  subsequent 
botanists.  But  why  he  named  it  Gillenia,  has  been  a  matter  of 
doubt.  The  author  of  this  chapter  has  not  had  access  to  the  origi- 
nal work  of  Moench.  Indeed,  beyond  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Pro- 
fessor of  Botany  somewhere  in  Hesse  Cassel,  and  that  he  was  the 
author  of  a  few  local  Floras,  little  is  known  of  him.  Of  Gillen,  if 
there  ever  was  a  person  by  this  name,  nothing  is  known.  Paxton, 
in  his  Dictionary,  says,  the  plant  was  "  named  by  Moench,  probably 
after  Gillen,  some  obscure  botanist."  The  always-careful  Darlington 
says,  "  Derivation  of  the  name  not  well  ascertained."  Dr.  Asa  Gray 
has  it  that  it  was  "  dedicated  to  an  obscure  German  botanist  or 
gardener,  A.  Gille,  or  Gillenius."  The  "Century  Dictionary" 
enlarges  a  little  on  this  and  says,  "  named  after  Dr.  Arnold  Gill 
(Latinized  Gillenius),  a  German  botanist ;"  and  it  gives  the  pronun- 
ciation Ji-le-ni-a.  There  are  good  philological  reasons  against  the 
latter  suggestions.  Wood  brushes  away  the  whole  line  of  argu- 
ment, and  suggests  the  derivation  from  a  Greek  word  signilying 
hilarity,  from  the  well-known  use  of  the  plant  by  the  Indians,  but 
even  here  the  orthography — two  l's  being  employed  in  the  name — 
is  against  the  conjecture.  It  is  most  reasonable  that  the  genus  was 
named  Gillenia  in  honor  of  some  good  cultivator  of  plants  at  Mar- 
burg. The  city  was,  in  Moench's  time,  a  famous  seat  of  learning, 
with  reputable  schools  and  colleges ;  while  the  gardens  of  its 
citizens  were  filled  with  rare  plants  from  many  countries. 
The  Spircea  trifoliata  was,  in  the  language  of  Sims,  "  a  plant 
much  coveted,  increasing  but  little,  propagated  with  difficulty,  and 
liable  to  be  lost  unless  placed  in  soil  and  situation  highly  favorable 
to  it.  It  is  scarce  in  the  gardens  about  London."  This  was  in 
1796.  Moench  was  writing  a  Methedus  or  arranged  account  of  the 
plants  found  in  the  fields  and  gardens  of  Marburg — and  there  is 
