12 AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 
an illustrious line of great botanists that gave the names of Hill, 
Lamarck, Moench, Gaertner, Allioni, Salisbury, Philip Miller, 
Scopoli, Persoon, Crantz, Stokes, and S. F. Gray, all of which be- 
tween 1755 and 1830 were as diligent to improve specific names, as 
they were to make better descriptions and better classifications of 
plants. 
Moreover our references in general to the changes that modern 
nomenclators make in accepting without question these corrections, 
and refusing to accept the names as published in 1753 by Linnezeus, 
show that the highly flaunted priority of our own day is, regarding 
this list at least, as much a dead letter as it ever was. If the law 
of priority is to continue indisputable the list and the self-evident 
conclusions to be deduced therefrom will bear more than superficial 
consideration. ‘The plain facts are, that Linnazan names have been 
changed, are still accepted in their changed form, are still being 
changed by contemporaneous nomenclators in spite of our much 
boasted adherence to the opposing dictates of the codes and their 
principles of priority, that this law of priority itself is in many 
respects still unfollowed by those that profess strictest and most 
scrupulous regard for it. There are those among the rising genera- 
tion of botanists that are beginning to ask why principles are not 
being observed practically in spite of their theoretical appropriate- 
ness and the sanction of codes, and we feel, in view of the facts 
above discussed, that such demands are anything but unreasonable, 
and remain waiting for explanation. 
V.—NEW PLANTS FROM NORTH DAKOTA. 
By J. UNELL. 
Gaillardia aristata foliacea var. nov. 
Caules simplices, unicapitulati, scapiformes vel foliis in parte 
inferiore accumulatis. Bracteae involucri in 3 series dispositae 
longitudinis inaequalis, intima quidem usque 2 cm. longa, hirsu- 
tissima, media usque 3.5 cm. longa, extrema usque 5 cm. longa, 
quarum utraque minus hirsuta, magis foliacea quam series intima 
est. Flores radiati breves et pauci, flavi, valde pilosi. 
Stems simple, monocephalous, scapiform or with the leaves 
clustered on their lower part. Involucral bracts in 3 rows of 
unequal length, the inner series all to 2 cm. long, very hirsute, the 
