1919] REIIDER, NEW SPECIES, VARIETIES AND COMBIXATIONS 55 



As far as I can see Abies alba is the correct name for the European Silver 

 Fir, Though the oldest name for the species is Pinus Picea Linnaeus, the 

 combination Abies Picea Bluff & Fingerhut cannot be accepted, as there 

 is the older homonym Abies Picea INIiller which is a valid name l>eing the 

 correct name of the European Spruce under the genus Abies. One may 

 possibly question the validity of Miller's name Abies Picea, as the oldest 

 name is Pinus Abies, but if that specific name had been used for the com- 

 bination, it would have been against art. 55, 2^ and likewise against the 

 usage of all the older botanists. Therefore it was necessary to select a new 

 specific name. It is certainly unfortunate that Miller used the name 

 Abies Picea for the European Spruce, but as Miller did not base his names 

 under Abies on any of the species published previously by Linnaeus under 

 Pinus, his name is not an erroneous transfer, but a new specific name, given 

 by Miller for the reason that Picea was the generally accepted prelinnean 

 name for the Spruce and therefore according to his view the correct name. 

 The objection, however, may be raised against the name Abies alba Miller, 

 that it could not be considered a valid name, as it has been formed against 

 the rules, which no doubt is the case, but as the correct combination is pre- 

 occupied, it is the next oldest name and therefore the valid name for this 

 species. For those who follow the Philadelphia Code there can be no ques- 

 tion that Abies alba is the correct name, as the combination Abies Pice is 

 preoccupied by an older homonym, and by those who still follow the so- 

 called Kew Rule Abies alba is to be accepted as the first name under the 

 correct genus. 



Abies alba f. columnaris, comb. nov. — Abies pectinata columnaris Car- 

 riere in Rev. Hort. 1850, 39; Traite Conif. ed. 2, 282 (1867). — Pinus Picea 

 f. columnaris (Carr.) Voss in Putlitz & Meyer, Landlex. iv. 774 (1913). 



A form with very short branches of nearly equal length forming a colum- 

 nar head. There is another columnar form A, alba f. pyramidalis (Carr.) 

 Voss in which the columnar shape is caused by a different mode of branching 

 similar to that of the Lombardy Poplar. 



Abies lasiocarpa f. compacta, comb. nov. — Abies s^ibalpina compacta 

 Beissner in Mitt. Deutsch. Dcndr. Ges. ix. 64 (1900); Handb. Nadelholzk. 

 ed. 2, 183 (1909). — Pinus lasiocarpa f. compacta Voss in Putlitz & Meyer, 

 Landlex. iv. 770 (1913). 



This dwarf compact form was first described in 1900 by Beissner who 

 states that he had seen specimens about 1 m. in diameter, but he says 

 nothing alx)ut the origin. At the Arnold Arboretum a dwarf comi)act form 

 was raised from seed sent by Dr. C. C. Parry in 1873 from Colorado. Beiss- 

 ner in 1909 also mentions a similar form originated in 1890 in the nursery 

 of Mr. Ordnung in Eisenberg, Bohemia. 



Picea Abies Karst. f . argenteo-spica, comb. nov. — P. excclsa argenieo- 

 spica Ilcsse apud Beissner, Handb. Nadelh. 307 (1891). — P. excelsa 

 argenteo-spicata Beissner in Mitt. Deutsch. Dendr. Ges. vi. 50 (1897); 

 Handb. Nadelh. ed. 2, 240 (1909). — Pinus Abies f. argentei-spicata Voss 

 in Puthtz & Meyer, Landlex. iv. 770 (1913). 



