60 TAXONOMY OF VASCULAR PLANTS [Bot. Absts., Vol. VI, 



acters of the three species. From his investigation the author states his belief that, while 

 E. peregrina and E. Purshii are very definite species units, the material grouped under E. 

 pilosa shows such an amount of variation as to give the strong suspicion that this is by no 

 means a homogeneous series. — James P. Poole. 



428. Marshall, E. S. Notes on Somerset plants for 1918. Jour. Botany 57: 147-154. 

 1919. [To be continued.] — This is a report of field work done in 1918 by the author and sev- 

 eral other contributors. A long list of species and varieties is given, with new localities, 

 and notes on interesting points. — K. M. Wiegand. 



429. Meyer, Rud. Echinopsis gigantea R. Mey. spec. nov. Monatsschr. fur Kakteen- 

 kunde 29: 58-59. 1919. — This was found in cultivation at Charlottenburg, the original coun- 

 try being unknown though probably Argentina. The species is compared with E. valida 

 Monv. — A. S. Hitchcock. 



430. Moore, Spencer Le M. Alabastra diversa. Part XXX. [Plantae Rogersianae. 

 iv.] Jour. Botany 57: 160. 1919. — This instalment contains only a description of Phyllan- 

 thus Rogersii Hutchinson sp. nov., which was omitted from the treatment of Phyllanthus, 

 where it should have appeared. It is a native of the Transvaal. — K. M. Wiegand. 



431. Nakai, Takenoshin. Notulae ad plantas Japoniae et Koreae XXI. [Notes on the 

 plants of Japan and Korea, XXI.] Bot. Mag. Tokyo 33 : 193-216. 1919.— This article contains 

 notes and descriptions of new species, varieties and forms in the following genera: Cephalo- 

 taxus, Torreya, Picea. Pinus, Populus, Cercidiphyllum., Pyrus, Viola, Eleagnus, Rhododen- 

 dron, Sideroxylon, Viburnum, Patrinia and Mimulus. New combinations and names are given 

 for many plants. — Roxana Stinchfield Ferris. 



432. Nelson, James C. The new genus Bromelica (Thurb.) Farwell. Rhodora 21: 

 215-216. 1919. — The writer questions whether the characters taken by Farwell in estab- 

 lishing the genus Bromelica (Rhodora 21: 76-78) are correct. He agrees that Farwell's 

 arguments in support of the new genus are convincing as long as the delimitation of the genus 

 Melica is based on the characters taken by most American authors as distinctive, but believes 

 that the problem of distinguishing Melica might be better solved, not by a separation of the 

 genus, but by an attempt to find a different set of characters on which to base the delimitation. 

 He points out that Hackel, in his key to the Festuceae (in Engler and Prantl, Nat. Pflanz- 

 enfam. ii. Abt. 2, p. 61-64), takes as the basis of his dichotomy (1) the presence of imperfect 

 flowers on the upper part of the spikelet; (2) the number of such flowers, not their texture 

 or arrangement. Using these as the distinguishing characters, Bromelica might still remain 

 as a subgenus of Melica, but the nearest ally of Melica among American grasses would then be 

 Diarrhena and not Bromus or Festuca. The delimiting characters of the American authors, 

 namely, the texture and the arrangement of the upper lemmas, would then become characters 

 of subgeneric rank. — James P. Poole. 



433. Ostenfeld, C. H. Contributions to West Australian botany, Part II. Dansk Bot. 

 Ark. 2 8 : 1-66. 26 fig., 6 pi. 1918.— The first part, Stray notes from the Tropical West Australia, 

 contains general remarks on the vegetation of Northwestern Australia with list of species col- 

 lected during short visits. New species: Abutilon flavum and Frankenia ambita. The second 

 part, A Revision of the West Australian species of Triglochin, Crassula CTillaea) and Frankenia. 

 describes three additional new species of Frankenia: F. Maidenii, F. interioris and F. com- 

 pacta. The third part, Chenopodiaceae from West Australia, by Ove Paulsen, lists 30 species, 

 of which Kochia Ostenfeldii, Arthrocnemum Benthami, A. (?) pruinosum and A. brachysta- 

 chyum, are new. — A. Gundersen. 



434. Pellegrin, Francois. Un curieux Kapokier a fruits en sablier, Bombax buono- 

 pozense P. Beauv. var. Vuilletii Pellegrin. [A curious silk-cotton tree with fruits in the form 

 of an hour-glass, Bombax buonopozense P. Beauv. var. Vuilletii Pellegrin.] Bull. Mus. Hist. 



