BIOLETTIA. 2J5 



of Smith under any coiisiileratioii, I tliiuk ; and Mr. J^>ues 

 Jones and Mr. Brown Brown would be likely to suffer for 

 their names until they changed them. It is bad enough to 

 have birds and mammals made to carry such appellations. 

 Will not the botanists, after reflection, decide to spare our 

 trees and shrubs and wild flowers? 



4 



I am afraid, moreover, that those of our botanists who have 

 announced themselves as in favor of this practice have done 

 so without counting how many such binomials (and even tri- 

 nomials) there will be. Let us be reminded also that, for 



1 



example, Melilotns Ifalica and Melilotns officinalis^ are not 

 with Linnaeus ordinary binomials, but specific names under 

 Trifolium. Are we really going to write 2IeJiIotus Melilolns 

 Italica^ Meliloivs Meliloins officinalis^ Meliloius MeliJolus 

 Polonica, Trigonella Meliloius cocritlea, Pococlda Meliloivs 

 Greiica, and other such ? In view of these and some other 

 points not yet duly considered, it is to be hoped we may be 

 persuaded, as our forefathers were, to allow a number of 

 exceptions to the rule of taking up earliest specific names 

 from Linmeus. 



BlOLETTIA, A NEW GeNUS OF COMPOSITE. 



H 



lower joints, loosely corymbose above. Leaves opposite 

 (except the uppermost), sessile. Heads small, on slender 

 peduncles. Involucre subhemispherical ; bracts green and 

 membranaceous, linear, subequal, in about two series. Eecep- 

 tacle small, i^lane or slightly convex, naked. Corollas minute, 

 very numerous, purple, all alike; the slender tube rather 

 shorter than the campanulate-funnelform. 5-toothed limb. 

 Style-tips linear, acutish, pubescent, in age very conspicuously 

 exserted. Achenes linear, sharply quadrangular, the angles 

 hispid-ciliolate toward the summit, the manifestly concave 



