x INTRODUCTION. 



is to be used. By mistake or inadvertently the same name has frequently been given to sev- 

 eral different genera or species, and it has repeatedly occurred that a name believed by the 

 author to be a synonym is shown by another to be a valid designation. 



Rt-i.K 6. Publication of a genus consists only, ( i ) in the distribution of a printed descrip- 

 tion of the genus named; (2) in the publication of the name of the genus and the citation 

 of one or more previously published species as examples or types of the genus, with or 

 without a diagnosis. 



Rn.K 7. Publication of a species consists only, (i) in the distribution of a printed de- 

 scription of the species named; (2) in the publishing of a binomial, with reference to a pre- 

 viously published species as a type. 



Rn.K s. Similar generic names are not to be rejected on account of slight differences, 

 except in the spelling of the same word. 



Thus Epidendrum and Epidendron are but different spellings of the same word; only 

 one of them can therefore be used; the same of E lodes and Elodea. 



Rn.K 9. In the case of a species which has been transferred from one genus to another, 

 the original author must always be cited in parenthesis, followed by the author of the new 



binomial. 



Thus Dryopteris Lonchites (L.) Kuhtze (Fig. 26) is so cited, because Linnaeus first gave 

 the plant the specific name Lonchites, while Kuntze first combined that name with the 

 accepted genus Dryopteris. 



Rfi.E 10. In determining the name of a genus or species to which two or more names 

 have been given by an author in the same volume, or on the same page of a volume, preced- 

 ence shall decide.* 



The Latin names of families have mostly been adopted as currently used, without refer- 

 ence to priority or terminations, as no rule on that subject has yet been formally adopted by 

 botanists. It seems desirable, however, that the scientific names of families should also fol- 

 low some uniform system, and as a very large proportion of botanical family names have long 

 been formed by the termination aceae affixed to some prominent genus of the group, that 

 this rule should be applied to the few remaining families otherwise named. All would thus 

 be brought into a harmonious system of nomenclature, as the zoologists have done by the 

 adoption of the ending idae for all zoological families. The English common names of fam- 

 ilies are similarly adopted from some characteristic genus of the group; as Pink Family, 

 Mustard Family, Mint Family, etc. The Carophyllaceae, in the absence of any genus Cary- 

 ophyllum, might thus become Alsinaceae; the Cruciferae, Brassicaceae; the Labiatae, Men- 

 thaceae or Lamiaceae. 



English Names of Plants. 



The general desire for some English name to the different plants described has been met 

 so far as possible. All names in common use have been inserted, so far as they have come to 

 the authors' knowledge, except such as were merely local, or where they were too numerous 

 for insertion. An exception has also been made in a few instances where a common name, 

 from its false suggestion, as in the name of Dog's-tooth Violet (p. 420) for Adder's-tongue, 

 is calculated to mislead as to the nature of the plant. Where no previous names in common 

 use could be found, the names given are founded on some characteristic circumstance of de- 

 scription, habitat, site or author. Names used in England have been freely availed of, but 

 the use of the same common name for different plants there and here has occasionally re- 

 ejuired the omission of one or the other. The use of the same name for different plants has 

 been rejected, except where there is no such close affinity or resemblance between them as is 

 likely to cause confusion. 



Pronunciation. 



In botanical names derived from Greek or Latin words, their compounds, or derivatives, 

 the accent, according to the ordinary rule, is placed upon the penultimate syllable, if it is long 

 in Latin quantity; otherwise, upon the antepenult. Many names, however, have been given to 



The ni1 v i losely followed in the publications of The United States National Mu- 



Mu Division! >( Hotany and Forestry of the United States Department of Agriculture; The 



.il C.arcU-n; The Torrey Botanical Club; The University of Nebraska; The Botan- 



'.r;isk.i Tli< Department of Botany of Columbia University; The Geological and 



-urvey of Minnesota; The Botanical Survey of Indiana, and many other societies 



ion*. Alo in Professor Sanxenfs ' Silva f North America;" Professor Underwood's 



i and their Allic- rn.f.s^.r Kellerman's " Plants of Ohio;" Mr. NewhalPs "Shrubs 



beastern America;" and by a large number of other authors in less extensive writings. 



