iqiq] current literature 487 



Some oriental plants. — Rock'* has published an account of the endemic 

 arborescent legumes of the Hawaiian Islands. The Islands are poor in 

 arborescent legumes; in fact the whole family is sparingly represented as 

 compared with such families as Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, and Lobeliaceae. The 

 genera discussed, which include endemic arborescent forms, are Acacia (3 spp.), 

 Mezoneuriim (i sp.), Sophora (3 spp.), and Erythrina (i sp.). The paper 

 includes numerous and remarkably fine photographs of herbarium specimens 

 and of the plants in the field. 



The same author'^ has presented the remarkable endemic genus Kokia, 

 a relative of the cotton, in which he recognizes 3 species and a new variety. 

 It is an interesting fact that the Malvaceae have contributed 2 endemic 

 genera to the Hawaiian Islands (Kokia and Hibiscadelphus). 



KoiDZUMi,'* in continuation of his studies of the flora of Eastern Asia, 

 has described 13 new species of Pyrus from Japan. — J. M. C. 



Flora of District of Columbia. — Hitchcock and Standley'9 have published 

 a manual of the vascular flora of the District of Columbia and vicinity, to 

 replace L. F. Ward's "Guide to the flora of Washington and vicinity," 

 published in 188 1. A general description of this region shows the great diver- 

 sity of conditions, resulting in an unusually interesting flora. The summary 

 shows 1630 species of vascular plants, representing 646 genera. Of this 

 number, 287 have been introduced, chiefly from Europe. The contribution 

 is a series of analytical keys, so that when the name of a species is reached it 

 has already been characterized. It is a good model for manuals intended 

 only for the recognition of species. — J. M. C. 



New tropical American plants. — In a third paper on tropical American 

 plants, Standley^ has described 76 new species. A synopsis of the Central 

 American species of Erythrina recognizes 16 species, 4 of which are new. The 

 Mexican Mimosaceae are represented by 15 new species, 8 of which belong 

 to Acacia. A synopsis of the species of Leiphaimos from Panama is given, 8 

 being recognized, 6 of which are new. Hoffmannia in Mexico and Central 

 America is credited with 9 new species. The Rubiaceae of North America 

 are increased by 7 new species in various genera. Miscellaneous species 

 belonging to several families are also included.^J. M. C. 



'* Rock, J. F., The arborescent indigenous legumes of Hawaii. Board of Agric. 



and Forestry, Bull. 5. pp. 53. pis. 18. 1919. 



'7 Rock, J. F., The Hawaiian genus Kokia. Idem. Bull. 6. pp. 22. pis. 7. 1919. 



'^ KorozuMi, Geniti, Contributiones ad floram Asiae Orientalis. Bot. Mag. 

 Tokyo 33:123-129. 1919. 



'9 Hitchcock, A. S., and Standley, P. C, Flora of the District of Columbia and 

 vicinity. Contrib. U.S. Nat. Herb. 21 : 1-329. pis. 42. 1919. 



^0 Standley, P. C, Studies of tropical American phanerogams. Contrib. U.S. 

 Nat. Herb. 20:173-220. 1919. 



