Enumeratio specierum Varietatumque Generis Dianthus

Abstract

ONE of the things most wanted by species-botanists at the present time is a set of monographs of a number of the familiar large genera of Polypetalous Dicotelydons. The natural orders of Polypetalæ were monographed by De Candolle in the “Prodrornus” between 1824 and 1830, and the scattered material relating to many of the orders and genera has not since been brought together and codified. As instances of genera now involved in great confusion for want of a more recent elaboration, we may cite Ranunculus, Viola, Papaver, Alyssum, Draba, Dianthus, Geranium, Galium, and many others. The present paper is, unfortunately, not a monograph of Dianthus, but only a list of the known species classified into groups, accompanied by general remarks on the structure of the different organs in the genus, and on their range of variation, so that, though it is interesting and useful as far as it goes, it still leaves very much to be desired. Although, on the one hand, Caryophyllaceæ are dried for the herbarium very easily, and suffer little in the process, yet Dianthus is a very difficult genus for botanists to deal with and to understand. There are 230 species for a monographer to characterize. The range of variation between the extreme types is not great, and some of the commoner species (e.g. D. Seguieri, plumarius, and Carthusianorum) are very variable, the consequence being that, one often sees them named in gardens very incorrectly, forms of plumarius especially, which is hardy and spreads readily, doing duty for many totally distinct species.

Enumeratio specierum Varietatumque Generis Dianthus.

Auctore F. N. Williams. Pp. 23. (London: West and Newman, 1889.)