1914] Fernald,— The alpine Bearberries 27 
Necker's own publication, as was done in the previous edition, but 
from Desvaux's Journal de Botanique, iii. 36, 292 (1813); but surely 
Desvaux's treatment gives no ground for generically separating Ar- 
butus or Arctostaphylos alpina from A. Uva-ursi. In fact, it requires 
a far keener scent for nomenclatorial trails than the present writer 
possesses to follow Desvaux to any rational conclusion. Here is what 
Desvaux did. In the body of the volume he wrote: 
“Tp, 36] MaAIRANIA ARCTOSTAPHYLOS, Adanson. 
Calix minimus 5 partitus; corolla ovata, limbo parvo, 5 [p. 37, line 1] fido 
revoluto. Stamina, 10 inclusa; filamenta glabra, an- |line 2] therae longitudi- 
naliter dehiscentes, et apicé non biperforatae; [line 3] bacca, 5 locularis, 
loculis monospermis. Sufrutices folia |line 4] alterna, flores axillares sub- 
racemosl. 
[line 5] Arsutus, L. 
[line 6] Calix minimus 5 partitus; corolla ovata, limbo parvo, 5 [line 7] fido 
revoluto, Stamina, 10 inclusa, filamenta villosa; an- [line 8] therae poro gemino 
apicé dehiscentes. Bacca 5 locularis, lo- {line 9] eulis polyspermis. Frutices; 
foli alternans flores terminales [line 10] subracemosi. 
line 11] 1. ArriNA, Desv. Arbutus alpina, L. Foliis rugosis ser-[line 12 
ratis. Habitat in alpibus et pyrenaeis. 
[line 13] 2. Uva ursi, Desv. Arbutus uva ursi, L. Foliis interrimis.] 
[line 14] Habitat cum priore.” 
It is certainly evident that the two species, Arbutus alpina L. and A. 
Uva-ursi L., were here put under Arbutus, not Mairania; but, needless 
to say, by their real characters they both belong under Desvaux's 
definition of * MatRANIA ARCTOSTAPHYLOS” with “bacca, 5 locularis, 
loculis monospermis." 
In the Errata, on page 292, Desvaux attempted some sort of a 
disentanglement, saying: 
“Page 36, avant-dernière ligne, lisez ARBUTUS, L. 
—— 37, ligne 5 ARBUTUS, Lin., lisez Marranta, Neck. Arctostaphylos, 
Adans. 
— Id. ligne 11, lisez MAIRANIA ALPINA. 
— Id. ligne 12 [should have been 13], lisez MAIRANIA UVA URSI." 
But this simply made a bad matter worse, for, after making the cor- 
rection, we get the many-seeded Arbutus described as having “ Bacca, 
5 locularis, loculis monospermis," and the genus Mairania or Arcto- 
staphylos, with its characteristic drupe with few nutlets, described 
*Bacca 5 locularis, loculis polyspermis"; and under this mangled 
generic description we get two species: “1. MarRANIA ALPINA, Desv. 
Arbutus alpina, L." with its few nutlets, and “2. M. uva urst, Desv. 
3 
