BRITISH PLANT LISTS AND THEIR DISCREPANCIES 239 



Silene dubia^ Herbich, which I place as a var. of nutans, 

 for as such I still prefer to keep it, is often of casual origin. A 

 solitary plant appeared at Wellington College (see vS. nutans, 

 L. " Fl. Berks," p. 85), from which a few others seeded ; I 

 think the wind in some cases is the means of the seed dis- 

 persal. I should have liked to separate Moe7ichia as a 

 distinct genus, and many others also, e.g. Alsine ; but I 

 follow Bentham and Hooker in their generic limitations, and 

 they merge Moenchia with Cerastium. 



Cerastiuni arctzcum, Lange. Ostenfeld in " Additions 

 and Corrections to the List of the Phanerogamae and 

 Pteridophyta of the Faroes," p. 848, says that, as pointed 

 out by him and Dr. Murbeck, " Bot. Notiser," 1898, pp. 

 246 and 60), the oldest name must be C. latifoliuin, var. 

 Edvionstonii^ Wats. (" Bot. Soc. Cat. Brit. PL," i 844), because 

 Lange's name, dating from " Flora Danica," 1880, fasc. 50, 

 p. 7, is later, and also because Lange has mixed two dis- 

 tinct species together, as his descriptions and drawings are 

 based partly on Edmonstonii from East Iceland, partly on C. 

 alpinuni (a condensed form) from Greenland. They there- 

 fore write C. Edmonstonii (Watson), Murb. and Osten. The 

 first reason, however, will not weigh with those who follow 

 the absurd rules of the Vienna Congress, which has one 

 rule for genera, another for species, and a third for varieties 

 since, according to these rules, permanence in a varietal 

 name is not compulsory (although it is in a specific 

 name), and it may be varied at pleasure ; and I am afraid 

 the second reason may not be sufficient to allow us to use 

 the excellent name suggested by the Scandinavian authors, 

 since the description of arcticuni may be held to cover 

 * Edmonstonii^ I think, however, there are good reasons for 

 choosing the name C, nigrescens^ Edmonston. Edmonston 

 (" Phyt." pp. 497-500, 1843) describes and figures the Balta- 

 sound plant under the name C. latifolium, L., and gives 

 figures of its allies to contrast with it. Subsequently (" Phyt." 

 p. 96, 1 845) Edmonston sent specimens to the Botanical 

 Society of London, labelled C. nigrescens, Edmond. " Fl. 

 Shetl." ined. ; and the point is whether the printing of 

 this in the " Phyt." I.e., is a valid publication. Here 

 certainly we have the first description of the plant in 1843 ; 



