The Species of Epilobium occurring North of Mexico

Abstract

EPILOBIUM is not a very large genus, but is spread universally through the north temperate zone, both amongst the plains and mountains, and reappears in plenty in New Zealand. The species are very difficult of delimitation and definition, and great diversity of opinion has prevailed as to their number, and the validity of the characters which have been used to characterize species. It is evident, moreover, that many of them hybridize freely in nature. Passing over the earlier well-known writers, such as Pursh, Muhlenberg, Hooker, and Gray, in 1876 Barbey contributed a monograph of the Californian species to Brewer, Watson, and Gray's “Flora of California,” and later published excellent figures of the new species which he there described. In 1884, Haussknecht published a monograph of the whole genus. Of the 38 species dealt with in Dr. Trelease's paper, 13 have been proposed by Haussknecht, 3 by Barbey, 4 by himself, and one by Parish, so that more than half the 38 have been lately described for the first time. Dr. Trelease describes fully all the species known in Temperate North America, gives an octavo plate of each of them, and a detailed account of their geographical distribution, citing the numbers of all the recent collectors. Of the 38 species only 9 extend their range beyond the American continent. The paper will be a very acceptable contribution to our knowledge of a difficult genus, and will no doubt be incorporated in the new “Flora of North America,” of which the second volume is already published, and the first and third of which we anxiously wait for. The Species of Epilobium occurring North of Mexico. By Dr. Trelease, Director of the Missouri Botanic Garden. From the Second Annual Report of the Garden, issued April 1891. 48 pages, 48 plates.