90 THE JOURXAL OP BOTAXY 



essential floral organs are invested bj a simple parianth as one 

 contact-cycle of protective leaf -members." The chief familj, is, 

 of course, that of the MoracecB containing the Figs and Artocarpus. 

 The last two lectures are devoted to the Monocotyledons and the 

 G-ymnosperms, the palms and bamboos chiefly being described in the 

 former and the Coniferae, represented only in the forests of the 

 Himala^^a, in the latter. 



To one whose botanical studies date from a good many ^^ears 

 ao-o, the modern terms employed by Dr. Church are sometimes a little 

 puzzling, but they are doubtless familiar to students. Dr. Church is 

 clearly consistent in carrying out the dictum of his Introduction, 

 *' much of the older literature is expressed in obsolete terminology 

 which reflects antiquated points of view," and it is just the newer 

 points of view which make his Lecture Notes so interesting, and 

 recommend them for study. 



J. S. G. 



A Report upon tlie Boreal Flora of the Sierra Nevada of Cali- 

 fornia. B}^ Frank Jasox Smile r. University of California 

 Publications in Botany, vol. ix. 8vo, pp. 423, with four photo- 

 graphs of the scenery. University of California Press, Berkeley, 

 California. 1921. 

 In this Report the author deals with the botany of the region of 

 the Sierra Nevada above the 6500 ft. contour which lies almost 

 entirely Avithin the State of California, except the Carson Range in 

 the East. 



There is a long and interesting introduction of 66 pp., including 

 a short preface, followed by remarks on the limits of the region, its 

 petrology, topography, climatology, life-zones, and statistical abstracts 

 of its i3otany. No portion of the region lies within the limits of 

 perpetual snow, although snow falls on the highest peaks in every 

 month except in July, but it melts quickly and rarely forms a 

 permanent covering before November. 



The portion of the Report dealing with the botany is clearly 

 written, and is provided with analytical keys to the Natural Orders— 

 the sequence of which follows the usual American adaptation of 

 Eno-ler and Prantl — genera and species ; the two latter respectively 

 are^'numbered consecutively in each order and genus. The names for 

 the authority of the species are followed by the work in which they 

 were published, with date of publication, synonyms being similarly 

 treated ; after this are cited in order the type locality, range, zone, 

 wdth a list of specimens examined, which serves for a detailed list of 

 its records in the region. This portion of the work, which includes 

 the locality, altitude, collector's name and reference number, is printed 

 in the same type as the rest of the detail and might well have been 

 veompressed into smaller space. Varieties of which the types also 

 occur are o-iven undue prominence by being treated on identical lines 

 with their species, except that they bear the species serial number 

 followed by a letter. Save for the analytical keys, there are no 



