The Scientific Notebooks of German Orchidologist Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Kränzlin

138 Alfred J. Ewart:

term "species" should be given as broad a scope as possible, not merely for reasons of practical utility, though these are of value, but because it is precisely in such genera that groups of varieties as yet imperfectly segregated into species are most likely to occur, and by recognising such varieties as species too hastily we render it more difficult for the workers of subsequent centuries to obtain evidence of evolution in such cases. In addition, the synonymy is less likely to become so extensive as at present. Thus it is doubtful whether the genus Pultenæa contains many more than 60 valid species, although over 150 have been recorded, and the same proportion holds for most large genera.

A specimen of P. Williamsoni, Maiden1 was referred to at Kew to a variety of P. stricta. The National Herbarium contains both under P. stricta and P. paleacea speciments examined by Bentham or by Mueller, which come very close to, or practically match specimens of P. Williamsoni. Altogether there can be no doubt that the genus will not be on a satisfactory basis until cultural experiments under varying conditions have been performed with all its supposed species, and the result of such experiments will probably be to give the selected species in the genus a much wider range than they have hitherto enjoyed.

SPOROBOLUS BENTHAMI, Bailey = S. VIRGINCUS, Kunth, var. PALLIDA. (Gramineae). Queensland Flora, p. 1880, Bull. Dept. Agric. Queensland, xiii., p. 16.

The 22 sheets of this variety in the National Herbarium show a far greater range of variation than Bailey's specimen from the type, and yet have no constant character of more than varietal significance. Although the outer glumes are usually about equal, the lower one is occasioally slightly longer than the upper, and sometimes, especially on the basal spikelets, not more than half its length. In this respect, in the more hyaline outer glumes, and in the longer spike the variety shows an approach to S. indicus, R. Br., from which, however, the vegatative habit differs. It is, in fact, possible that the cultural experiments might show S. virginicus to be a marsh and maritime form of variety of S. indicus, developed in brackish situations.

1 Vict. Nat., vol. xxii,, p. 6, 1905