317 
high, much more branched this was the Kew tree. Torreya 
nucifera, bearing fruit freely, is a clean-grown small tree with a 
trunk 8 ins. thick. 
If the vit ie should occur, the city of Angers would do well 
to seize the chance of acquiring one of the finest collections of 
woody plants in odininaies As far as municipal arboretums are 
concerned, it would possess one second to none, unless it were that 
maintained with such liberality by the City of Rochester in New 
York State 
W. J.B. 
Nomenclature of Visenia.—An enquiry has recently been made at 
Kew respecting the authorship of the names Visenia indica and 
Melochia indica, the former of which is usually attributed to 
Houttyn and the latter to Asa Gra ay. 
It appears that no such name as Visenia indica was ever published 
by Houttyn. He established the genus in “ reat ” vol. viii. 
(1777), p. 309, the ae species given there being V. umbellata. 
This “ Handleiding ” * Deel 11, Planten ” na vol. 1774-1783) of 
Houttyn’s “ Natunviyhe Historie . . . volgens het Samenstel 
van den Heer Linnaeus” and was also issued separately as 
“ Handleiding tot de Plant-en Kruitkundl ete.” 
J. melin in his edition of Linnaeus’ “ Syst. Nat.” vol. ii. 
(1791), p- 515, has under Asti “indica. 1. Wisenia. Houttugm. 
Linn. Pflanzensyst. 6. p. 287, t. 46. f. 3.” 
The publication Gmelin erate to is Christmann and Panzer’s 
of it. Hasskarl in Tijdeche, Natuurl, Geschied. ‘el xii. cee 
122, seems to have been the first to attribute the ae rageD 
Visenia indica to “ Houtt.” quoting “ V, umbellata, Bl. Bij 88” 
as asynonym of it. He repeated it in “ Plantae Javanicae ’ Pilisic 
it passed into Miquel, “ Fl. Ind. Bat.” vol. 1. ii. p. 189, and sae 
works, 
As to‘ Melochia indica, A. Gray, the first reference to itis by K. 
Schumann in Engl. Bot. Jahrb. xi (1888), p. 209. However A. 
nia 
Visena indica, Houtt. (ex Miguel Melochia jadi (Hout, A. 
r The earliest specific name for the plant in question is 
“ umbellata”’ and the correct combination under Melochia should 
therefore be M. umbellata. 
0, 8, 
