64 
Systematic Botany 
By ALFRED GUNDERSEN 
Frankeniaceae 
During the past year my studies have been confined to the 
American species of the genus Frankenia. The treatment of this 
genus in Reiche’s Flora of Chile is very unsatisfactory. The 
identity of I. lignosa Rusby and F. peruviana Schellenberg and 
their close resemblance to F. erecta Gay have been established ‘by 
my studies. The name, erecta, may perhaps be changed: I have 
not yet followed up the questions of identity of the early names 
of Molino, Cavanilles, Schauer, and Remy. The resemblance of 
the Californian F. grandifolia var. campestris to the Chilean 
species F. Berteroana Gay or F. micrantha Gay was first called 
to my attention by Monsieur Surgis, of Paris; these last have been 
further studied. I am led to consider the Chilean form only as 
a variety of the Californian species. I have had great difficulty 
in obtaining specimens from Argentina. The Argentian species, 
F’. Fischeri Hichen, is the most distinct of South American 
Frankenias. 
Floral Structures of Dicotyledons 
Studies along these lines were continued. A number of sec- 
tional drawings of flowers and flower buds were made by Miss 
Maud H. Purdy, and several distributional maps were prepared. 
Studies on the varition of Nephrolepis (Boston Fern, etc.) 
By Rarru C. Benepsct 
The collections of varieties of the Boston Fern, and of the dif- 
ferent Nephrolepis species have been maintained as heretofore. 
In this connection, it may be noted that the recent New York 
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science afforded an opportunity to show these collections to a con- 
siderable number of visiting botanists, and that their interest in 
seeing these forms as living plants was an indication of the im- 
portance of the continued maintenance of as complete a set as 
possible, not only of the experimental forms on which studies 
