80 THE PLANT WORLD 



ber of important nursery catalogues, as those of Bull, Sander, Veitli, 

 Williams, Lemoine, Vilmorin, Spaeth, and Dammann. Some of these 

 firms have for many years sent collectors to the uttermost parts of the 

 earth in search of new plants, and many species that are prominent in 

 cultivation to-day were first described in these catalogues. 



In the preparation of the Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, 

 this " List " has been of great value, since it gives a clue to perhaps 

 4,000 plants of horticultural interest that have come into cultivation 

 since the period covered by the Index Kewensis, i. e. since 1885. It ac- 

 counts for a great many names of American plants which baffle those 

 monographers of American genera who do not have access to just such 

 a work as this. Nor mil the publication of the fifth volume of the Index 

 Kewensis destroy the value of the present work, as it gives much valu- 

 able information that will not be included in the Index Moreover, 

 many systematic botanists who are now engaged on important Amer- 

 ican works, cannot afford to wait for the next volume of the latter. 

 The "List of Published Names" will also be found useful to workers 

 engaged on the floras of other lands than America. 



The work under review does not guarantee the names found within 

 its covers. It pretends to be nothing more than a compilation. It 

 does not even claim to be a complete list of all the new names found in 

 the 63 publications that have been abstracted. Nevertheless, it would 

 be hard to overpraise the Kew management for this work. Ten years 

 from now the "List" might be a more nearly perfect work, but in the 

 interim there would be an enormous waste in time and energy and a 

 useless multipUcation of synonymous names. How such a book can be 

 published for a dollar, is a mystery. 



In his modest preface to the "List," Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 

 takes occasion to give some interesting facts and figures about the 7600 

 plants introduced to cultivation from 1876 to 1896. The families most 

 largely represented are orchids, lilies and aroids, the last-named includ- 

 ing many foliage plants which are particularly in favoi- on the conti- 

 nent. Of the 7600 species, 1600 are orchids belonging to seven genera. 

 The seven genera most largely represented are all orchids. These sta- 

 tistics throw an important light on the horticultural taste of the last 

 century, and indicate in a measure what plants the collectors risk their 

 lives for, and what novelties the great commercial houses mentioned 

 above are desirous of obtaining for their rich jjatrons. 



The preface also cites one case of a tri-generic hybrid which has 

 originated during the period mentioned, as also 15 different groups of 

 l>i-genic hybrids. 



The new species for 1897 are found in the Kew Bulletin of Miscel- 

 laneous Information for 1898, Appendix II. — Wilhelm Miller. 



