BOTANY. 333 



Nancy, has recently been appointed to a position at Bor- 

 deaux. Rostafinsky has been promoted to a professorship at 

 Cracow. During the year, no botanical expedition of impor- 

 tance has been undertaken. Among the chancres which are 

 worthy of note is the erection of a new building for the her- 

 barium at Kew, which, as we learn from the last report of the 

 director, is estimated to contain considerably over a million 

 specimens. There has also been erected at Kew a labora- 

 tory for the pursuit of physiological studies. 



PROGRESS IN AMERICA. 



Descriptive. 



In America, the botanical publications have been principal- 

 ly confined to articles in the different journals. In systematic 

 botany we have to note three papers by Professor Asa Gray 

 in the Proceedings of the American Academy. The first, 

 which appeared late in December, 1876, but which was not 

 generally distributed until the beginning of the present year, 

 is a description of the two genera of Papaveraceos (Canbya 

 and Arctomecon), both from California, illustrated by two 

 plates by Sprague. The species of Arctomecon has a persist- 

 ent instead of a caducous corolla, as is usual in the order to 

 which it belongs. The second paper, which bears the same 

 date as the first, contains the descriptions of new species of 

 several different genera, including a synopsis of the North 

 American species of Asclepias and allied genera. In this 

 paper, the genus Steironema of Rafinesque is restored, and 

 several species separated from Eysimachia, where they had 

 been previously placed. A third paper, by Professor Gray, 

 in the Proceedings of the American Academy, bearing the date 

 of May, 1877, contains a description of the new genera 

 Sympetaleia of the Loasacece, and Lemmonia of the Hydro- 

 phyllacece, both belonging to California; besides revisions of 

 Canotia, Torr. ; Echidiocarya, Gray ; and Leptoglossis, Benth. 

 Mr. Sereno Watson also contributed to the same Proceedings 

 a paper, bearing the date of June 13, in which he described 

 a number of new species, and gave revisions of the genera 

 Lychnis, Eriogomcm, and Chorizanthe. In the Transactions 

 of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, Dr. George Engel- 

 mann continues his account of the oaks of the United States. 



