BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 85 



'IMie .sterile lri)mls an; commou i)crliai)s (lie entire \-eur, l)Ut the fertile make their ap- 

 pearance only after inidsuninier. 



Ostniuuhi is well represented by the three northern species. I (hjn't know that tlie\' 

 diller in characters or habits from the same further north, except that they fruit very 

 sparingly anil imperfectly. The sterile frond.s are always abundant and luxuriant, 

 December last, when all vegetation liere had stojiped'growing, I observed a number of 

 t'vondmA' 0. ct)ouiniK>//u;ii, L., with the iovver i)inn;e fertile and the upper sterile. The fol- 

 lowing spring examined a number of stalks, but fournl all sterile except one or two, in 

 which the upjter pinna; were disposed to become fertile. 



Botfi/rhium termilaiiu Swz., var. nldiquain., Milde., is rare in this latitude. Saw a 

 tew stalks of it in the Gulf hummock. 



0[>liu>gloissuiii bidboaui/i, Michx., was detected in March growing in old tields of a 

 hummock at Manatee. Stem 2-3 inches high with the part below the leaf imbedded in 

 the damp, compact, sand}' soil. There appeared from 1-3 fronds to each bulb; one in 

 which sporangia had not yet developed, the second with maturetl fruit, and when a 

 third was present it generally appeared decaying. 1 frequented the same locality a 

 month later, but failed to detect even a trace of it, so that its fruiting period is likely 

 of short duration. Several years since I saw the same in fruit at Palatke in the latter 

 part of February. 



OpliiiKjlussuiu uadicauie, L., was seen in good fruiting state ami rather plentiful in 

 the month of November. It grew in damp compact sandy soil on the borders of pine 

 liarren ponds in Levy county. It was 1-2 inches high, and like the preceding sends up 

 1-3 stems to each thick root, with the [)arts of the stems below the leaves imbedded in 

 the soil. It is apparently probable that the thick root in this and the bulb in the pre- 

 ceding are perennial. Likely both si)ecies are iu)l uncommon, but are readil\- over- 

 looked on account of their small size and growing with other small plants. — Dr. A. P. 

 Gakbek. 



llow Sh.vll wk Pjioxoince Botanical Names .^ — In view of the fact that the pro- 

 nunciation of Latin and Greek is undergoing certain well known changes, in accord- 

 ance with the results of recent investigations, a ((uestion of a good deal of importance 

 to botanists who are teachers in colleges where they are obliged to deliver lectures, is 

 that which deals with the pronunciation of botanical names. I need not say anything 

 as to the advisability or inadvisabilit\' of our classical teachers adopting the new or 

 "piionetic" pronunciation ; that is a matter for others to discuss and quarrel over ; I 

 may be permitted, however, to say that I have no doubt whatever that in a few years all 

 ourstudents will be pronouncing Latin and Greek in accordance with this method. 

 Taking this for granted, what shall we do with our botanical names? Siiall we harden 

 every (\ (j, and qn'; Shall every long a be ah ; every long a be it ; every long i, be r; every 

 long u be oo''. For hundreds of names there will be no difficulty, and the change will 

 be scarcely noticeable, but in a great many other cases the new pronunciation will be 

 startlingly diflerent from the old. Witness the following examples: Aqailerjia (Ah-kil- 

 a-ge-ah, pronounced with g hard), Geranium (Ga-rah-ne-um, with g hard againj, Acer 

 (Ali-ker), Circa'U (Kir-ka-ah), (Ji'pluihoitlius (Keph.), Vacciidiiiit (Vak-kin.), liosdccir 

 (Ro-sah-ka-a), Erirared' (Er-i-kah-ka-a), Ci/peracefe (Kip-er-ah-ka-a). I can not exactly 

 represent the sounds without marked letters, and so have been obliged to occasionally 

 use a con.sonaDt in a wrong syllable in (U'der to indicalethe vowel sound. At first these 

 names thus pronounced, repel one from the new pronunciation, but after a little, when 

 the ear has become accustomed to the new sounds, I must confess to liking them. 

 There are some points conuectetl with names derived in a barbaric way from the names 

 of persons and places, of which 1 will have something to say hereafter. — C. E. Bessey, 

 lowii Agricultural College. 



