Study of herbarium specimens and of living populations of Hudsonia plants over several seasons showed a wider range of variation than could be accommodated by the present nomenclature of the genus. Four characters (leaf length, pedicel length, leaf hairiness, and ovary hairiness) were found to form distinct associations on a scatter diagram. Ecological conditions showed correlations with these morphological associations. The associations are designated as five subspecies of Hudsonia ericoides L. Linnaeus' type specimen of the genus is a taxon intermediate between subsp. tomentosa and an unnamed clearly distinct taxon now apparently confined to Nova Scotia but formerly more widespread southward along the coast. This latter heretofore unrecognized taxon is here described as H. ericoides subsp. andersonji. Evidence is presented which indicates that this subspecies is headed toward oblivion by man's use of its habitat. Representatives of the genus Hudsonia collected from 1963 to 1965 at many stations along the coast of New England were found to vary from the descriptions given in Gray's Manual of Botany, 8th Edition (Fernald, 1950) for either H. ericoides L. or H. tomnentosa Nutt. Inclusion of these specimens in H. tomentosa var. intermedia Peck made the morphogical limits of that taxon extremely wide. Fernald further noted that this variety needs critical study, and that it resembles a hybrid between H. ericoides and H. tomentosa. Hall (1956) concluded that the var. intermedia Peck was a backeross from hybridization or is an introgressant. This study presents evidence for a much wider range of character variation and proposes the nomenclatorial changes demanded.