212 



recognizing such genera as Atragene^ Conocliniuni, Diplopap- 

 pus, Leptopoda, Quavioclit, Batatas and Pharbitis. He has now 

 adopted a more conservative view, uniting all the above mentioned 

 genera and many others, with their nearest allies ; in this, how- 

 ever, he is by no means consistent, for we find Hepatica included 

 in Anemone y while Actinouieris is distinguished from Verbesina and 

 if Otophy/la and Dasystoma are both to be separated from Ger- 

 ardia, Monniera, in the same family, should most certainly be re- 

 moved from Herpestis, and SophronantJie from Gratiola. 



About a dozen new species and innumerable varieties are de- 

 scribed in the course of the work, several of them being unpub- 

 lished names of Dr. Engelmann and other writers. The author 

 has adhered to a rigid rule of exclusion in connection with the 

 numerous new forms proposed during the last few years by other 

 students of southern botany, remarking in the preface, " In a region 

 so vast * * * * there still must remain much to reward the labors 

 of future explorers, and many new species have been proposed by 

 recent collectors as occurring within my limits. These, which are 

 unknown to me, when duly confirmed, * * * * will have place 



in future issues." 



As a future issue embracing any extended revision is a matter 



of some uncertainty, it is to be deplored that Di. Chapman did 

 not make some effort to obtain material for examination at least 

 in those genera in which he himself contemplated the establish- 

 ment of new species. The omission of these well-marked forms 

 is less of an injustice to the botanists who have devoted time and 

 careful study to the plants than it is to the field student who con- 

 stantly discovers specimens which he cannot match with any of 

 those described. It would be difficult for the chance collector of 

 Clematis Addisonii to reconcile it with the diagnosis of C. Viorna, 

 or Nolina Brittoniana with that of N. Gcorgiana ; and yet there is 

 no other recourse for one who is dependent upon this flora alone. 

 We are glad to note, however, that many excellent species of 

 Buckley, Curtis and Shuttleworth, long suppressed by other 

 writers, have been properly reinstated by Dr. Chapman, The 

 chief annoyance to botanists resultant from the omission of re- 

 cently described species will be the addition to an already over- 

 burdened synonymy which some of the very numerous new varie- 

 ties must make. 



