260 



HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIF. 



BOTANY. 



The London Catalogue. (8th Ed.)— The 

 observations of Mr. Harrison and Mr. F. J. George, 

 on the change of plant names in the new edition of 

 the London Catalogue, have made known one or two 

 important facts. The most valuable, in my opinion, 

 is that the editor has adopted the alterations in the 

 last edition of Hooker's ''Student's Flora" almost 

 purely and simply. My complaint is that changes 

 have been made in names given to plants by such an 

 eminent authority as Linnaeus, apparently without 

 sufficient justification. I cannot agree with Mr. 

 George in thinking that, in such a matter, we ought 

 to take the ipse dixit of an eminent modern botanist, 

 without an explanation of his reason for making the 

 change. Although I may lay myself open to Mr. 

 George's threat of having to part company with 

 modern scientists — a censure I should be sorry to 

 deserve — I must crave the attention of your botanical 

 readers to the statement of a few reasons against 

 changing names which have long ago been published 

 by eminent botanists, and have up to the last year or 

 so received the sanction of authors of Floras and 

 Catalogues of Plants. To be more specific, let us 

 consider the case of the plant to which Mr. Hamson 

 refers, the perfoliate yellow-wort. On referring to 

 the 1797 edition of " English Botany " I find this plant 

 figured at t. 60, and the name given as Chlora 

 perfoliata, with the plant characters. The synonyms 

 there given are as follows : " Chlora perfoliata, Linn. 

 Syst. Nat. ed. 12 v. 2. 267. Studs. Fl. An. 168. 

 With Bat. Arr. 392. Relb. Cant. 157. Centaurium 

 luteum perfoliatum. Raii Syn. 187." In Dr. Smith's 

 Flora, published about 1S20, this plant is'described as 

 Chlora perfoliata. Professor Babington, in the eighth 

 edition of his "Manual of British Botany" (1884) 

 retains this name. In the second edition of Hooker's 

 "Student's Flora," and in the seventh edition of 

 the London Catalogue (edited by the late Mr. 

 H. C. Watson) this plant is named Chlora perfoliata. 

 The eighth edition of the London Catalogue, pre- 

 sumably on the authority of Sir J. Hooker, gives 

 Blackstonia perfoliata in place of the old name. On 

 turning to that admirable work on Structural Botany 

 by Dr. Asa Gray (who certainly ranks amongst the 

 eminent scientific men of this day) I find the follow- 

 ing observations on the " Fixation and Precision of 

 Names." "The name of a plant is fixed by publica- 

 tion, and takes its date from the time when it is thus 

 made known to botanists. A genus or other group 

 is published when its name and characters (or the 

 differences between it and all other such groups) are 

 printed in some book, journal, or other adequate 

 vehicle of publication, which is placed on public sale, 

 or in some equivalent way is distributed among or 

 within the reach of botanists. A printed name with- 

 out characters, and characters without name, do not 



amount to publication." These conditions have been 

 fulfilled in the case of Chlora perfoliata by Linnrcus, 

 followed {inter alia) by Sowerby, Smith, Babington, 

 H. C. Watson, and Sir J. Hooker. What has 

 happened to justify the change? Has the plant 

 recently been referred to another genus, and if so, 

 on what grounds ? Has something of importance 

 with reference to this plant been discovered since the 

 publication of the second edition of " The Student's 

 Flora " ? If so, it would be both instructive and just 

 to botanists to tell them plainly what it is. " In 

 transferring a species from one genus to another," 

 writes Dr. Asa Gray, "its specific name must be 

 preserved (with alteration of the gender if need be) 

 unless there is urgent reason to the contrary. It 

 must necessarily be changed when there is already in 

 that genus a species of the same name ; and these 

 synonymous names of the transferred species have 

 their claim in order of date. But whatever name is 

 first employed under the accepted genus, being un- 

 objectionable, should hold even against an older 

 unobjectionable one coming from a wrong genus. 

 This is an application of the stringent rule, that no 

 needless names should be created." In a note to this 

 passage, Dr. Asa Gray quotes the following observa- 

 tions of Bentham (" Notes on Euphorbiacere," in Jou:. 

 Linn. Soc, xvii. 107, Nov. 187S). "It should 

 be well borne in mind that every new name corned 

 for an old plant, without affording any aid to science 

 is only an additional impediment." Let me s'ate, 

 what should almost go without saying, that my only 

 object in writing on this subject has been, if possible, 

 to elicit the reason for these changes of name, and to 

 get at the means of judging as to whether they are 

 justified. I have the highest respect for Sir J. D. 

 Hooker, and, I hope, appreciate as fully as Mr. 

 George, the great advantages he possesses for ac- 

 quiring accurate knowledge. The London Cata- 

 logue is such a useful little book to botanists that all 

 must wish to see it as accurate as possible. This 

 correspondence may elicit facts that will make it none 

 the less appreciated than it has hitherto been. — 

 W. G. IV. 



Floral Monstrosities, &c. — I send you a 

 monstrosity of a rose which was gathered in our 

 garden last July. You will see that its sepals are all 

 more or less developed into leaves, while out of its 

 centre grow three more or less ill-formed buds, a 

 small growth which has not made up^its mind whether 

 to be leaf or flower, and one perfect leaf. This last- 

 mentioned leaf I think strangest of all, since one 

 would not expect anything but imperfection to grow 

 out of such a muddle. I also enclose some Ballota 

 nigra which has branches growing in the axils of 

 several of the bracts, these branches themselves 

 bearing bracts and whorls of flowers. I picked it 

 here a few days ago ; it was growing among grass in 

 rather a damp place. Last autumn we found on the 



