UxDERWooD : The Genus PiiANERorin.KiiiA 215- 



As stated above there is considerable uncertainty regarding the 

 relations of this species to P. pumila. Further collections will be 

 necessary cither to establish the validity of this species or reduce 

 it to synonymy. Represented at Kew by Linden, 'SS^j collected 

 in Chiapas. 



2. In the Kew Herbarium is a specimen marked ** Popocatepec, 



Mexique" Schaffner, no. 2]], which is represented by a single 

 leaf nearly a meter long, of which 45 cm. is stipe. The stipe is 

 blackish at base, brow^nish, and then stramineous with occasional 

 scales; pinnae 2r, approximate in pairs, strongly bristly through- 

 out, wuth a series of scattered scales everywhere on the veins be- 

 neath ; the veins arc free and the sori are in three rows very much 

 as in P. nobilis which the plant resembles in many ways. Further 

 material is here necessary to determine its position. 



3. The specimens in the Kew and Gray herbariums collected 

 by Fendler in Venezuela and distributed under no. 233 are not P, 

 JKglandifolia but present material is insufficent to determine its 

 relations. It will thus be seen that while much is known of the 

 genus, much yet remains to learn regarding complete distribution 

 of the species. 



The data presented by the above study illustrate several prin- 

 ciples of wide application in the study of our flora, and particularly 

 that portion of it w^hich connects directly with the flora of Mexico 

 and the West Indies, where, of necessit)% the early types arc found 

 in the herbaria of the old world. 



1. The necessity for the American flora to be monographed by 

 Americans in whom some conception of distribution is apparent 

 from the better perspective inherent in natives of a large country. 



2. The coordinate necessity for American monographers to 

 consult the large European collections before completing their 

 studies of relationship and distribution. An earlier examination of 

 Willdenow*s type in this Instance would have prevented much of 

 the difficulty which has resulted from the misinterpretations of 

 both Europeans and Americans. Few^ European botanists have 

 taken the trouble to consult types on their own continent out- 

 side of the herbaria In which they work ; consequently, for the 

 study of the American flora, Americans must do this and do it 

 systematically. 



