Feb., 1910.] E. D. MERRILL.— K'OnTTIALSI'JfJ.A, HrFAflLl, ETC. (J7 



opposecs r\ chaqtic nocud ct d'nn cntro-nDCud a r.'iiUrc, supcr- 



posees en deux scries loiiuitudiiinles, cii un mot distiqucs I'.ir 



la, ces plantes [£?//ar/V<] different nettement dcs Korthalscllu, 

 oil les ecailles sont, sulvant la regie, opposees decussces ct par 

 consequent tetrnstiqucs." 



If we accept tlic generic limits of the vriri(nis f^roups of 

 Loranthaceac as defined by Van Tieghem, KorthulseUn and 

 Bifaria arc perhaps as distinct as the majority of Van Tif.giiem's 

 genera, yet authors generally have failed to agree with Van 

 Tieghem in his generic concepts. Engler^^ has, with good 

 reason, recognized KorthalseUa as a genus distinct from Viscuni, 

 and apparently witii equally good reason has reduced to it, as 

 a section, Van Tieghem's Bifaria. Accordinjj to this ireneric 

 concept, Pseudixus must also be reduced to KorthalseUa, for 

 both Bifaria and Pseudixus are typified by the same s]iecies, 

 Viscum japonicum Thunb. 



In publishing the genus Bifaria^ Van Tieghem has proposed 

 to recognize no less than fifty four si)eeies, the generic range 

 being from tropical Africa and Madagascar to Japan, Australia, 

 and Polynesia. It is quite apparent, however, that specific 

 distinctions have been too closely drawn by this author, and 

 there is little liklihood that his numerous species will be generally 

 recognized by other authors. In fact, ever\^ new species proposed 

 by him is undeterminable without reference to the botanical 

 material examined by him, for descriptions are cither entirely 

 lacking or reduced to a very few words of cursory descriptive 

 matter. The species are considered by their geographic distri- 

 bution, the first ones named being fourteen from the Hawaiian 

 Islands, five from Tahiti, one from Fiji, two from Norfolk 

 Island, etc. 



The type of the genus is not indicated, but it is manifestly 

 the form first described, i. e. Viscum japonicum TiiUNn.. which 

 is indicated by the following statement in the introductory 

 discussion, preceeding the enumeration of the species : " On les 

 a meme toutes ensemble confundues, soit avec le Viscum 



1) Nat. Pflanzenfam. Nachtr. loS. 1897. 



