308 
’ PHYSALIS MACROPHYSA N. sp. 
Perennial; root somewhat thick and fleshy ; stem erect, 0.5-1 
metre high, comparatively slender, angled, perfectly smooth, or 
the upper parts sparingly pubescent with very short hairs ; leaves 
large, thin, 4-8 centimetres long, 2-5 centimetres wide, the lower 
obtuse, the upper acute or acuminate, on slender petioles 2-4 
centimetres long; pedicels 1-1.5 centimetres long, erect, in 
fruit reflexed; calyx smooth, lobes ovate-triangular or broadly 
lanceolate, generally a little shorter than the tube; corolla yellow 
with a dark centre, about 2 centimetres in diameter; anthers gen- 
erally yellow, sometimes tinged with purple; fruiting calyx large, 
3-4 centimetres long, 2.5-3 centimetres in diameter, pyramidal 
to ovoid-conical, indistinctly 10-angled, deeply sunken at the base; 
berry small, in the centre of the calyx. 
This is nearly related to P. longifolia and P. Philadelphica, but 
differs from both by its very large and inflated fruiting calyx 
and its broader leaves. The following specimens have been ex- 
amined : 
Arkansas: A. E. Heacox, 1889. 
Kansas: E. A. Popenoe, No. 68, 1875. 
Texas: Lindheimer, 1828; A. A. Heller, No. 1756. 1894. 
North Carolina (?): Small and Heller, No. 389. 1891.* 
Ohio (?): T. H. Horseford,* 1879; C. W. Short,* garden (?)- 
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 
The Nomenclature Question, 
By Lester F. Warp. 
The German who was asked why he called his boy Hans re- 
plied: 
“ Pecaus it vas hees name.” 
The story is an old one, but no one has ever questioned the 
conclusiveness of the reply. It is the same answer that must be 
made to the question why a botanical name should be changed 
to make it conform to the law of priority. When a child is 
christened the name he receives is the one that he is supposed to 
have during life. A man with several aliases is always an object 
* These specimens lack fruit and may belong to the preceding, but the leaves 
most resemble those of P. macrophysa. 
