HO SOT AN I GAL GAZETTE. 



pecial inleresi in it, trom its having been found by your former pupil. T gatliered it 

 with otlier i)lants. at tlie foot of tlie Yo.seniite Falls, in the Yoseniile Valley, Cal., on 

 June, 24th, 1H7B. It beina- an infertile si)eeimen, T liesitated relative to pressing it, but 

 was attracted by its peculiarity and i)ieseived several tufts of i1. Attaeliing no particu, 

 lar value to it— being not in truit— yet greatly interested in its appearance, I did not 

 send it with other plants, to friends for whom in my travels I am in the habit of col- 

 lecting, but chanced to include one in a small pai'cel to my friend. Dr. Chas. Mohr, a 

 German gentleman, resident in Mohile, Ala., and a tine botanist. He noticed it as new 

 to himself and immediately forwarded the lutt Ui Dr. h'ad Mullrr. \\n- distinguished 

 Bryologist m (Tcrmany. I quote from Dr. Mohr's letter in reference to it: 'Dr. Muller 

 descrii)es that tine brown moss, of which you had sent me an infertile specimen, as a 

 new sj^ecies, naming it in hou(u- of its enlliu.^iaslic discoverer, Brynin Atiratcruc. It 

 is nearly allied to the B. nlpiiiuiii of Eur(V,(e." It was reported in the ■Bulletin of the 

 Torrey Botanical Club,' New York, August, 1874. " 



To this account of the discovery and naming of the plant under consideration, we 

 will add that though the name of the genus Bripnn is ascriljed to Linnaeus, it seems to 

 have been merged in with other genera of Mosses, and is not found in the works of 

 many of our distinguished American Botanists. Lindley refers to IlooUer for a de- 

 scription of the family Bry(ice<e, of which Brjiiini may be considered a type. He enum- 

 erates more than a hundred genera of Bryocem, and says: "The little plants, the Urn 

 MoKscH, form one of the most interesting departments of CJryptogamous Botany: they 

 are distinctly separated from all the previous tribes by the peculiar structure of their 

 reproductive organs." 'I'he position of the Bvyarcn'. according to Lindley, is between 

 JungeriiKdin.idceit' and Andrifueed^. We have not seen what tlie distinguished Bryolog- 

 ist, Karl Muller, says of this peculiar family of plants. That he has honored our 

 countrywoman in naming her as a discoverer, entitles him to our gratitude. 



I will add to this article but one short sentence, worth more than all to her who is 

 now in the better world — she was a Christian. — Ai..mih.v Lincoln Phklps, Bdltitnore, 

 Mary l< mil. 



The Native Fi-owers .vnd Ferns of the United St.\tes; by Thomas Meehan; 

 Illustrated by Chromolithographs, Boston, L. Prang A: Co. — We have received five 

 parts ot the first volume of this handsome publication. It is a charming work and 

 well calculated to arouse an interest in the study of botany among those who have con- 

 sidered it loo dry and leclinieal. The colored plates are heaulittil and the ileseriptions 

 and histories given in the accompanying text are written in such a popular way as to 

 interest and instruct even those who have no knowledge of botany. No sjjccial order 

 IS followed, but i)lants are selected representing as great a range of country as jjossible, 

 so that even in one part the reader is carried over considerable of the territory of the 

 United States. In his selection of phmts, too, Mr. Meehan, shows thai he is a true bot- 

 anist, for he sees beauty in i)lants that would escape the ordinary observer, and deems 

 them worthy of a place and plate. The price too (50 cents a |)arl) puts the work with- 

 in every ones reach. To show something of its nature the following list of contents of 

 the first parts is given. It must 1ie rememhered that every species in the list also rep- 

 resents a colored ])late. 



Part I. — Triiil/'srinit/ii Vii'ff/uica, (renin friflonnii, (jclaciiiiiiiii xcinpcrrirrnx, Po/yjMxJ- 

 iiiin inciumiii. Part II. — Viola r.ucullata, Aiieimiiic /ifinornsa, Aquil.cf/iii chrnxaiitha, 

 Fac/iyKa/idra j)roni7iiheri.'<. Part III. — Hel»/i/as Imllata, (Jare.r xtrirta, ('iijijica ri.sro.si.s- 

 l iiiia, Tlidlicti'iuii dliiiruin. Part IV. — Aneinniic patr/is, var. .Nattalliann, Orcliin sjicrfn- 

 hiiix, l^yiiiiihirarpus fd'tidns, Pcdirnlan'i^ < jDutdcuxi.^. Part V. — Eryilinni imw Aincriran- 

 uiii, PIilox Kubidata, Sa.rifrar/a Virgi/denxis, Arrtoafap/iylos Uva-urxi. 



Err.\ta.— In No. 8, Vol. 3, p. 67, 4th line fromto]), for "pubescent" read "procum- 

 bent." 1. c. 2(Uh line, read ^'nncinata'''' for ''runcinatd..'' 



