204 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. XIV, No. 1,. 



partial authority. But there can be no unifomiity of plant names 

 until botanist have discovered the nature and limits of species and 

 genera. To the reviewer, therefore, the retention of the principle 

 of priority in the present manual is one of its commendable feat- 

 ures, and will advance rather than retard the progress of American 

 botany. 



In the way of criticism it might be pointed out that in some cases 

 there seems to be too great a tendency toward the division of 

 genera and families even when they are naturally rather com]3act. 

 If this process were to become as prevalent as species splitting has 

 been recently, botanist might well despair. We would soon 

 have local manuals of dictionary size. The study of subgenera 

 and of the myriads of varieties and fluctuations can be accomplished 

 without disturbing the names which are of importance to many 

 who do not devote their entire lives to systematic questions, but 

 who neverthless, have daily use for the names of many of our eco- 

 nomic species. 



As in all manuals and treaties of the present time, there are 

 various statements, contrary to the facts, inherited from the 

 superficial past. As an exam^ple, the stamens of the Smilaceae are 

 rightly said to be "2-celled," but the same statement is made in 

 regard to the Liliaceae, a number of genera of which, if not all, are 

 known to the writer to have four microsporangia and to be quad- 

 rilocular. Neverthless, taken all in all, the "Illustrated Flora" 

 IS one of the most comprehensive and accurate botanical works 

 that have appeared in the present generation. J. H. S. 



Correction. — In the April number, Juncus gerardi Lois was 

 inadvertently omitted. Add this species in the synopsis just 

 before J. dudleyi. 



Juncus gerardi Lois. Gerard's Rush. 



Plant rather tall and slender, tufted, with creeping root- 

 stock; leaves flat, nonseptate, with membranous auricles; inflor- 

 escence paniculate, perianth segments obtuse; stamens barely 

 exceeded by the perianth; capsule longer than the perianth, 

 obovoid and mucronate, trilocular; seed dark brown, acute at the 

 base, cons]:!icuously ribbed. In salt meadows and the vicinity of 

 the Great Lakes. Cuyahoga County. 



Add after Smilax pseudo-china the following: 

 Smilax hispida Muhl. Hispid Greenbrier. 



A glabrous, climbing, tendril-bearing vine with branches some- 

 what angled. The stem commonly bearing numerous, slender 

 prickles; peduncle 1>2 inches long; leaves thin, ovate, abruptly 

 acute and cuspidate at the a]^cx, obtuse or sub-cordate at the base; 

 seven-nerved; umbel lU-25-flowercd; fruit a bluish-black berry. 

 In thickets. General. 



Date of Publication, November 18, 1913. 



