Art. X. Notice on the Myosurus Shortii.
Art. X. Notice on the Myosurus Shortii.
I have the pleasure to announce to the botanists, that the genus Myosurus, hitherto thought an European genus, and composed of a single species, has been detected in the United States by Dr. Short of Kentucky, who has discovered it in the neighbourhood of Hopkinsville, in Christian county, West Kentucky, and has communicated me specimens of it; by which, on comparing them with the European Myosurus, figured in Flora Danica, Lamarck's Illustrations, &c. I have been enabled to ascertain, that the American plant must form a second species of that genus, which I have accordingly dedicated it to the discoverer, by naming it Myosurus Shortii. This adds another genus and another new species to our Flora. I add the comparative definitions of the two species, exhibiting; their different characters and diagnosis.
| Myosurus minimus. Lin. &c. | Myosurus Shortii. Raf. |
| Leaves linear-cuneate, broader near the top, and acute. Scapes as long as the leaves, thickened towards the upper part. Calix 5 leaved, Spurs consimilar: petals 5. Stamens 5 to 8. Carpophore as long as the scapes. | Leaves linear obtuse, hardly attenuated below. Scapes shorter than the leaves, and filiform. Calix 3 to 5 leaved, spurs membraneous: petals 3 to 5. Stamens 10 to 12. Carpophore shorter than the scapes. |
C. S. RAFINESQUE.
Philadelphia, May 1, 1819.