I 



TO 





REVIEWS. 



Abrain's Flora of Los Angeles'. 



Abrams 



Flora p. 446. Abrams does not see that Jiis "figureo-^are 



as having thin perianth 



drawn correctly. Yucca brevifol'ia is figured 

 oblately spherical. The parts are never thin but are conspicuously fleshy 

 and thick and oblong. Flowers never spherical, but very irregular. Hii 

 figure of Yucca Mohavensis is equally bad. No such flowers are found, 

 but they are almost exactly like those of Y. baccata, that is, pear-shaped. 

 In his treatment of Allium I find the same lack of precision in handling 

 .the species, and little discrimination in synonjony. He shows n complete 

 ignorance of Allium monticola Davidson which is a good species related 

 to A. bisceptrum and always alpine, while A. Parishii, to which ' he xeTers 

 ii was got on the alkaline slopes of Cushenbury spring in the Tropical 

 life zone, and is quite a different thing, and probably A. fimbriatum. ITii 

 reference of my A, dedpiens and Inyonis to A, atrorubens is equally 

 erroneous. He has never seen the type of either. He never seems to^have 

 ever seen A. Nevadense, a very marked species, for he figures it as having 



a 



slender and straight single leaf, ■\\^ile the species has a Stout 



coats. 



and 

 glaucuous involute leaf, conspicuously coiled at tip, and very marked bulb 



He seems to know nothing about the peculiar root characters of A, 

 bisceptrum and campanulatum. He uses no discrimination in 'his treat- 

 ment of the serratum group, following Jepson in liis error as to the identity 

 of A. serratum, which appears to be A. peninsulare Lemnion. He ^keeps 

 ■up the various forms in this groirp as species. His figure ■ 6f A. "acum- 

 inatum shows that he does not know the peculiar structure of the reticula- 



tions. He keeps up the untenable divisions of the Douglasii group. He 

 does not follow any genetic system in the arrangement o*f species except to 

 use my general system. He seems to know little of the root structure of 

 any of the species or their method of reproduction which in many instances 

 is very peculiar. Abrams is not in any proper sense a botariist, nor has 

 lie any right to attempt a flora of anything, for he has no sympathy with 

 [floriculture or flowers. His treatment is more that of a mathematician or 

 bibliographer, and with little if any initiative. He has not made it a 

 business to know plants in their homes or to understand the ecological 

 onditions which govern their distributfon. His Flora df Los Angeles is 

 he poorest attempt at a text book on the plants ■ df any region tlbAt T *iisre 

 ever seen. 



