SUMMARYThe name Anthericum calyculatum of Linnaeus, Species Plantarum (1753), covered four species but was primarily based upon the central European species to which authors since 1812 have restricted the name Tofieldia calyculata (L.) Wahlenb. The name T. palustris Huds. as first published in 1778 must be regarded as a synonym of 2′. calyculata, even though it has been restricted by later authors to the circumpolar Arctic‐Alpine species which alone occurs in Britain. For tin's the correct name is T. pusilla (Michx.) Pers. Linnaeus knew both species in a living state, having met with T. pusilla in Lapland in 1732 and T. calyculata on Gotland in 1741, but he did not consider them specifically distinct. The above paper summarizes the distinguishing features, history, synonymy and geographical distribution of the two spec