52 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



tion in Latin of the parts of the flower and then a descrip- 

 tion of the tree in English. This genus is accepted by 

 Bentham and Hooker (Gen. PI. i, p. 940), and is cited 

 " Sciadophyllum P. Br. Jam., p. 190, t. 19." 



In the Journal de Botanique, ii, 1809, p. 166, is an article 

 entitled " Prospectus de M. Rafinesque Schmaltz, relatif a 

 deux ouvrages sur la Botanique du Nord del' Amerique; 

 traduit du Medical Repository de New Yorck, vol. 5, p. 

 350 [1808], par M. N. A. Desvaux." 



Rafinesque here proposes several new genera, to be 

 formed by separating species from old genera. At the 

 head of the list is "1. Adlumia cirrhosa; qui est la 

 Fumaria fungosa d'Aiton, ou S. erecta [F. recta] de 

 Michaux." De Candollo (Syst. ii, p. Ill, 1821) takes up 

 the name " Adlumia, Raf. in Desv. journ. bot., 1809, 2, 

 p. 169," giving a description ; and succeeding authors quite 

 generally use Adlumia, Raf. On page 171 of the above 

 mentioned article appears "21. Achroanthes unifolia; 

 Malaxis unifolia Mich." 



In 1818 Nuttall (Gen. ii, p. 196), proposes the genus 

 Microstylis, giving the characters on which the separation 

 from Malaxis would be made, but the actual separation 

 was made by Eaton (Man. Ed. 3, 1822). 



Did Rafinesque establish the genus Achroanthes, and 

 therefore does it have priority over Microstylis? If not 

 should not the first example be quoted Adlumia, Raf. in 

 DC. Syst.? Prof. Greene (Pittonia, Sept. 1891) considers 

 the evidence sufficient for the restoration of Achroanthes, 

 and renames the North American species. In this con- 

 nection it is a curious fact that most authors from Lindley 

 (Orch. 1833) to Hemsley (Biol. Cent. Am. iii, 1883) and 

 Greene (1. c.) quote Malaxis umbellulata, Sw. Prod., 

 though Swartz's specific name is umbellijlora . 



Some of Linnaeus' genera were published for the first 

 time in the Species Plantarum, and it is perfectly clear what 

 his genus is in most cases. Browne's genera appearing in 

 a local flora are less clearly defined. At all events genera 



