208 CEnothcra Ovata. 



first dcscril)cd by Torrey & Gray in the ' Syno])tical Flora,' or by 

 DeCandolle or others elsewhere. 



It is now <j:encrally coneedcd that an author, after ])ubHshing a 

 name, has no lonj^er any right to substitute another name therefor 

 in siibsec|uent jjublieations, even though the first name he finds to 

 be a misnomer. This right, claimed by many of the older botanists 

 of a past generation, is no longer contended for. It is also an open 

 tjuestion as to how far published names may be changed or cor- 

 rected by their own or subsequent avithors. 



A common Californian cactus is ])ul)lished by Prince Salni in 

 * Cacte^e Horto Dyckensi,' p. 91, as Mamillara Goodrichii Scheer, 

 named in lionor of Mr. Goodrich; Professor Sereno Watson informs 

 me that Seeman says in the Botany of the 'Herald' that it was a 

 'Mr. J. Goodridge, surgeon,' whom the plant was intended to com- 

 memorate in its name as its di.scoverer. The name, therefore, has 

 been written iM. Goodridgii b^v many sul^sequent authors. Gray 

 {Botanical Gazette, ix. 53) inadvertently publishes Antirrhinum 

 Nivenianum, and repeats this spelling on the following passage. 

 This was collected by Rev. J. C. Nevin, and it is obvioush' proper to 

 -write X. Nevinianum, as the former spelling was mere inadvertence 

 or a typograi)hical error. But in the instance of Alamillaria Good- 

 richii, as originally written there is less cause for change, since the 

 man may not have been clear in his own mind as to the correct 

 spelling of his name, — like Shakspeare, spelling it differently at 

 different times. C. R. Orcutt. 



. CENOTHERA OVATA. 



(From OarcU'u autl Fores/, iv. 28"). i 



There is a glowing California field flower that possesses many 

 charms, and well deserves introduction to the garden. In its season 

 this lovely California (ISnothera, with its dwarf growth and com- 

 pact clusters of golden bloom, ap])ears as distinct and as striking a 

 feature of the landscape as the great flame-red Eschscholtzias. 



The other day — it was Ma}- 10th — I walked up the long sea- 

 ward slopes of Berkeley. Every vacant lot and the ver\' streets 

 ■vvere golden with little plats of shining blossoms. I began to 

 remember that for three or four months this l)rilliant dis])lay con- 

 tinues. I counted the flowers and yet uno])ened buds on the nearest 

 plant. The circle of its outer leaves was about a foot in diameter; 

 they rested ujjon the turf, hardly rising four inches alcove it at any 

 point. Fifteen o])en flowers rose well above the foliage, and no less 

 than thirty-six buds could be counted without pulling the crown 



