SOUTHBYA NIGRELLA IN BEITAIN G9 



S. nigrella is widely distributed in the Mediterranean region, 

 where I gathered it near Amalh several years ago : it conies a long 

 way north in the western parts of France, having been found by 

 M. Douin in the de2)artnient of Eure et Loir ; it is also recorded for 

 the neighbourhood of llouen. It is probable, therefore, that the 

 species will be found in other suitable places on the limestone in the 

 south and west of Ena-land. 



THE NOMENCLATURE OF PLANT FAMILIES. 

 Bi- T. A. Sprague, B.Sc, F.L.S. 



AccORDiiiG to the International Rules (Art. 15), each natural 

 group of plants can bear only one valid designation — namely, the 

 oldest, provided that it is in conformity with the Kules of Nomen- 

 clature and the conditions laid down in Articles 19 and 20. Art. 19 

 fixes the starting-points of nomenclature for the various groups — 

 1753 for PhaneroganiEe. Art. 20 relates to genera only. Families 

 are designated by the name of one of their genera or old generic 

 names with the ending -acecd (Art. 21) ; but eight names which are 

 not so formed are retained as nomina conservanda, namely Palmce, 

 Graminece, Cruciferce, Legtominosce, Guttiferce^ ITmbelli feres, La- 

 hiat(S, Compositw (Art. 22). 



It is often troublesome, however, to ascertain the authors and 

 dates of publication of family names, and the result has been that 

 two or more names are in use for the same family. Thus the 

 Willow-herb family is variously known as Onagracece, (Enotheracece, 

 and EpilohiacecB, and the Tea family as TernstrcemiacecB and 

 TJieacecB. It is obviously undesirable that botanists who recognize 

 the same Rules of Nomenclature should employ different names for 

 the same group, and it has therefore seemed worth while to ascertain 

 which names should be adopted in such cases. 



The first question which arises is : Is the effective date of publi- 

 cation of a family name the date at which it appeared with the 

 termination -acew ; or may names with other terminations be accepted 

 for purposes of priority, the alteration of suffix being regarded as an 

 orthographic correction ? 



If only those family names published with the termination -acece 

 were valid, many well-known names would have to go. For example, 

 DioscoreacecB (1S3G) would be replaced by Tamacece (1821), although 

 the family name Dioscorece dates from 1813. This was the view 

 taken by Rarnhart (Bull. Torr. Bot. CI. xxii. 2; 1895). 



The convention by which the names of orders, families, and tribes 

 are made to end in -ales, -«c^(^, and -ece respectively was not proposed 

 until 1836 (Lindley, Nat. Syst. ed. 2, p. xiii), and was not generally 

 adopted until many years later. Names of plant families were 

 usually feminine adjectives agreeing with the word " Planta?," which 

 was understood. Most of those proposed by Linnaeus (Phil. Bot. 27 ; 

 1751) were descriptive, such as Spathaceoe, Coniferce, Oompositce^ 



