23 REVIEWS. 



Gossypianthus, Hook., two Texan species ; Iresine, two spe- 

 cies ; Alternauthera, one species (Achyranthus i'cj)e?is, L.) ; 

 besides the A. (Cladothrix, Nutt.) lanuginosa, which Lind- 

 heimer and Wright find abundantly in Texas, and which will 

 certainly stand as a separate genus, if a striking peculiarity 

 in respect to its fruit, observed by Dr. Torrey, proves to be a 

 normal condition. Telanthera ficoidca and T. polygonoides 

 appear to be only introduced plants along our southern coast. 

 Frselichia (Oplotheca, Nutt.) has three North American 

 species. Phyllepidium of Rafinesque is not identified and 

 probably never will be. 



The remaining family, JSfyctaginacece, includes eighteen 

 genera, in three tribes. Of Mirablis, though no species are 

 credited to us, we have one or more in Texas, as well as the 

 three species of Nyctaginia, Choisy. Of Oxybaphus, six 

 North American species are indicated ; and the Peruvian 

 Alliona incarnata comes also from California. Four species 

 of Abonia are described, besides A. f (Tripterocalyx) mi- 

 crantha, Torr., which Dr. Torrey has since raised to the rank 

 of a genus. Pisonia aculeata is found on Key West. Boer- 

 haavia furnishes us three or four species ; and there shall re- 

 main some undescribed Texan representatives of the family. 



The second part of the fourteenth volume of the " Prodro- 

 mus " contains the T7iymelmacea2 by Meisner, the Elceagnacece 

 by von Schlechtendal, the Grubbiaccaz by De Candolle, resting 

 merely on one of those outlying or anomalous genera which 

 there is too great tendency to raise to ordinal importance, 

 merely because the author knows not what to do with them, — 

 and Santalacem by De Candolle. Of the first order we have 

 only Dirca, peculiar to this country, and with no congener 

 known. There is nothing to add respecting our three species 

 of Elceagnacece. As to our few Santalacem, it is interesting 

 to remark that one of our characteristic genera, Pyrularia 

 (the Oilnut), is found to have two representatives in the 

 Himalayas (Sphaerocarya, Wall.), and apparently two more 

 in southern India (Scleropyrum, Am.). Also that a Euro- 

 pean species is introduced into our Comandra (the Thesium 

 elegans of Rochel), and the genus itself shown to be hardly 



