Jan., 1909.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 151 



Porphyrio nielanonotus ... ... Bald Coot (Derby River) 



*Psophodes crepitans ... ... Coachwhip-bird 



Ptilotis leucotis ... ... White-eared Honey-eater 



*Rhipidura albiscapa ... ... White-shafted Fan-tail Flycatcher 



,, rufifrons ... ... Rufous Fan-tail Flycatcher 



*Sericornis frontalis ... ... Scrub Wren 



Stipiturus malachurus ... ... Emu Wren 



*Strepera cuneicaudata ... ... Grey Crow-Shrike 



*Sula serrator ... ... ... Gannet 



*Trichoglossus novce-hollandice ... Blue Mountain Parrakeet 



*Zosterops ccerulescens ... ... White-eye or Wax-eye. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



THE SPECIFIC NAME OF THE INTRODUCED 



ROMULEA. 

 To the Editor of the Victorian Naturalist. 



Dear Sir, — I note in your last issue a letter from Mr. M'Alpinc 

 quoting extracts from the last Kew Bulletin purporting to show 

 that the name R. cruciata given to the "Onion Grass" is incorrect. 

 I must frankly confess that I consider it unfortunate that Mr. 

 M'Alpine, instead of doing some work or investigating this matter, 

 prefers to quote the opinions of others. 



The error on the part of the Kew authorities has arisen from 

 the fact that there are two B. cruciatas — the original one of 

 Ker-Gawl, at first placed under Trichonema, and a later one of 

 Ecklon, which is invalid for priority reasons, but which could 

 hardly be expected to agree with our Australian B. cruciata. 



I may mention that the Cape Herbarium identified our plant 

 as Romulea rosea, Eckl., var. parviflora, and that we followed 

 Ker-Gawl in raising this variety to specific rank as R. (Triclionema) 

 cruciata, Ker-Gawl. The British Museum identified the plant as 

 R. longijolia, Baker, which is a synonym to R. cruciata, Ker- 

 Gawl, following the rule that when species are shifted en bloc 

 from one genus to another, the original names and authorities for 

 the species must be retained in the absence of any reason to the 

 contrary. 



This irid was recorded under the name oi Trichonema ochroleuca, 

 Ker, in Bentham's " Flora Australiensis," vol. vi., p. 399 (1873) ; 

 as Trichonema hulbocodiu7n, Ker, by Mr. Reader, in the Journal 

 of Pharmacy, 1887 ; and as Romulea hulhocodium, Sebast., 

 in the "Key to Victorian Plants," 1887-8, by Mueller. In 

 Tasmania and New South Wales it was known as R. rosea, Eckl. 

 {Trichonema rosea, Ker-Gawl), whereas we have shown that it is 

 the plant distinguished by Ker-Gawl as Romulea (Trichonema) 

 cruciata, mainly on account of its short style. The Kew Her- 

 barium follows Battandier (Bull. Soc. Bot. de France, 1889) in 

 considering this character to be a variable one, and the species 



