CONTRIBUTIONS TO WESTERN BOTAN'Y^NO. IS •.2?7 



m 



before I did mine. This to him was a piece of cute work, like 'the Mex- 

 icans do when they cheat you out of a few cents when you make:a^ bar- 

 gain with them. He had once before got me to send him a lot of 

 material of Compositae fronij my collections, on the plea that he was going 

 to monograph the family. I went to the trouble to give him a complete 

 suite of Compositae. After receiving them he replied that my stuff was 

 so poor that it was fit only for firewood and so he refused to send me 

 specimens in return for them except a few things from New Mexico. 

 Later on, when he began to publish comments on the Compositae, "lie 

 spoke of my specimens as a part of his set of my Colorado plants, when 

 the fact was that he never bought a set of my plants in his life .and 

 never before or since got any from me, Greene was first, last arid a,ll .the 

 time a cur. 



In Pittonia 3 127 to 138, Greene, vnth. a great show of erudition, 

 regroups the species of Erysimum into Schoenocrambe, Cheiranthus, and 

 Erj'simum, putting E. asperum and E. cheiranthoides in Cheiranthus, 

 which is about the most stupid thing a real botanist would ever do 

 There might be some reason for keeping up Cheiranthus for a . certain 

 group, but to put E. cheiranthoides into the same shows a total lack of 

 discrimination. There is a certain resemblance between cheiranthoides 

 and Sisymbrium species, like virgatum, but to keep the former "in Chei- 

 ranthus spoils it all* 



We have a similar problem in Sisymbrium. I don't see how S. 

 canescsns and altissimum and deflexum can be kept together, but to run 

 certain TheK^odia into the genus makes a mess of it. 



Recently I have been going over Greeners Leaflets and notice his 

 treatment of Rhus trilobata, which makes one feel like committing mur- 

 der, but fortunately Greene has passed beyond human retaliation. IJi'^ 

 case makes one half inclined to believe in Hell, for no oflier place would 

 be suitable for him. 



Hesperodoria scopulorum (Jones) Greene Leaflets 173, Bigelovia 

 Men^iesii var. scopulorum Jones Cont. 7 692. Greene says of this, 

 ''where it is described by Mr. Jones, who however failed to apprehrrd 

 its real affinities. It is next akin to my genus Pteradoria, i. e. Nuttall's 

 Solidago pumila," etc., etc. It is wonderful how Greene, with but a single 

 specimen to study, in contrast with the collector who saw it growing ard 

 got much of it as it grew, and who studied It on the field and was such 

 a numbskull, while Greene, with his marvelous conceit, could see char- 

 acters that never existed at all. Then again, what did Greene ever know 

 a^ out the real relationship of Solidago pum"ila as to whether it is a 

 rji2leo\^a or a Gutierrezia? The only thing I regret is that I did not 

 get after him years before I did, and show him up as he deserved. Had 

 I seen all these remarks when they came out I certainly would have 

 roasted him to the queen's taste. But I never examined much of hi^ 

 work till it came up in order after he had gone. And in addition T had 

 so little confidence in his work that Idid not think "it wofth-'considering. 



