INTRODUCTION 33 
by previous authors, numerous others were misinterpreted. In 
many cases his conception of the genus was very vague, and he 
often assigned to a generic name species that manifestly belong 
in entirely different genera or in entirely distinct families. 
Thus Paederia includes representatives of both Paederia and 
Psychotria; Ixora contains species of Ixora, Scyphiphora, and 
Plectronia; Sterculia contains species of Sterculia, Knema, and 
perhaps Myristica; Nauclea contains representatives of the 
closely allied Nauclea (Sarcocephalus) and Neonauclea, and also 
of the entirely distinct araliaceous genus Schefflera (§ Cepha- 
loscheera) ; Mimosa includes species of Acacia, Pithecolobium, 
Schrankia, Mimosa, Albizzia, Pterolobium, Adenanthera, and 
Parkia. This list could be greatly extended, but enough is given 
to indicate some of the difficulties encountered in dealing with 
Blanco’s genera. 
In various descriptions Blanco has misconstrued certain char- 
acters. Thus the distichous leaves on the branchlets of certain 
rubiaceous and myrtaceous plants are frequently described as 
pinnate or even as bipinnate leaves. On the contrary he some- 
times described leaflets of pinnate leaves as simple leaves. Thus 
it frequently happens that one must construe Blanco’s descrip- 
tions rather than to take his use of technical terms as always 
strictly correct. In a few cases galls have been described as 
fruits, a notable case being that of the echinate galls of Shorea 
guiso Blume; from such material Blanco described the species 
as Euphoria malaanonan Blanco, which is considered in the 
second edition as “Euphoria ? nephelium?” He realized from 
his specific name malaanonan that he was dealing with a dip- 
terocarpous tree; yet on account of its Nephelium-like “fruits” 
(really galls), he later placed it in the genus Euphoria of the 
Sapindaceae. 
In numerous cases Blanco gives the exact locality in which 
he observed the species described. His material was for the 
most part from Luzon, and chiefly from the provinces near 
Manila. The regions from which most of his material was se- 
cured are what is now Rizal Province, especially from the vicinity 
of Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Union, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos 
Norte, and a few from other provinces such as Cavite, Bataan, 
Cagayan, Camarines, Tayabas, etc. Few species were from 
other islands than Luzon, such as Mindoro, Marinduque, Cebu, 
Negros, and Bohol, but none were from as far south as Mindanao. 
Most of his material was from the easily accessible regions at 
low altitudes, from the settled areas in the immediate vicinity 
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