18 Rhodora [JANUARY 
doing Coulter & Rose stated that, “ It is under protest that we displace 
a name of such long use for what seems to be so trivial a reason, but 
the name Washingtonia will continue to be put forward in accordance 
with a technical interpretation of the law of priority’’.! 
Of course, by those who believe in following the International Rules 
of Botanical Nomenclature, the name Osmorhiza is retained not only 
because it is clearly what Rafinesque meant to use but because of the 
sound requirement of Article 46 that, *If the names are of the same 
date, the author chooses, and his choice cannot be modified by sub- 
sequent authors." ? But, as already said, to those who maintain that 
Washingtonia legitimately displaces Osmorhiza the equally ill-begotten 
name JZuosmus (or Evosmus) should appeal. As used by Nuttall (1818) 
and of course by implication by Reichenbach (1828) and Bartling 
(1830) it covered species now generally referred to Benzoin Fabricius 
(1763), Litsea Lam. (1789) or Malapoenna Adans. (1763) and Sassafras- 
Nees & Ebermaier (1831). With the species of Benzoin and Litsea 
(or Malapoenna) removed to those earlier-defined genera, the name 
Euosmus (or Evosmus) covered only members of the subsequently 
published genus Sassafras. 
Gray HERBARIUM. 
EXTENDED RANGE oF VIOLA PEDATA L.— It may be interesting to: 
note that this plant, which is given in the “Manual” as extending 
from southern New England to Maryland, occurs much farther west- 
ward. In DeWitt Co., Illinois, I have found it in two localities, both 
in close proximity to each other, along Salt Creek in the southwestern 
part of the county. One locality was a hillside with a southern expo- 
sure, rather densely covered with a crab-apple thicket. The other 
was an open hilltop about a quarter of a mile farther westward. This 
one contained many more specimens than the first. All the plants 
on the thicketed hillside belonged to the species, so far as a careful 
search revealed, but on the open hilltop there were a very few speci- 
mens of the variety lineariloba. 
1 Coult. & Rose, Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. vii. 61 (1900). 
2 It is unfortunate that in Coulter & Nelson's Manual in which ''the nomenclature, 
so far as practicable, is that adopted by the Vienna Congress,” it was not found practi- 
cable to follow Article 46 and that, in spite of Professor Coulter's earlier-expressed. 
protest against the name, Washingtonia was used instead of Osmorhiza. 
