ROBINSON: POLYCODIUM 551 
Yet, taken on a summary of characters, there is probably no 
species found in Louisiana that is more likely to have been the 
basis for Robin’s description than Gaylussacia dumosa (Andr.) 
A. Gray. 
All of the remaining species of the family found north of the 
Mexican border are retained by many authors in Vaccinium. 
Generic or sectional segregation has been proposed on several 
characters, taken singly or in combination, the degree of union 
of the corolla, its aestivation, its shape, the presence or absence of 
awns on the anthers, the presence or absence of pubescence on the 
filaments, the presence or absence of false partitions in the ovary, 
the nature of the inflorescence, and tetramerous as contrasted 
with pentamerous flowers. 
In the Thibaudieae, the other subfamily of Vacciniaceae, 
general agreement has been reached that the primary basis of 
differentiation should be sought in the stamens. There is much 
reason to believe that this is equally true with regard to the 
Vaccinium group, but it would be useless to belittle the fact that 
the weight of botanical opinion has been otherwise. The most 
popular segregate has been Oxycoccus, from which Hugeria has 
further been discriminated. They differ from the remainder of 
the group and from one another in the degree of division of the 
corolla. Possibly Polycodium will prove the most acceptable 
of the others. But on what grounds should it be retained? 
Professor Greene’s claims for it are excessive, although indefinite, 
for he does not define ‘genuine Vaccinium.” It has a campanu- 
late corolla: so have V. arboreum Marsh.,* V. Vitis-Idaea L., V. 
poasanum Donn. Sm., V. confertum H. B. K., and others, differing 
from one another in various characters, and none except the first 
closely allied to Polycodium. The 10 stamens of Polycodium have 
pubescent filaments and 2-awned anthers: except in number they 
differ from the great majority of species of the eastern and southern 
United States, which have pubescent filaments but awnless 
anthers (section Cyanococcus), from most of those of the western 
States, which have 2-awned anthers but glabrous filaments (section 
Euvaccinium), but agree with many tropical American species, 
* No opinion is necessarily expressed in giving the name of this or any other 
Species as Vaccinium. 
