126 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [avcust 
of most unsanitary character, great care will be necessary to avoid con 
tracting the numerous diseases associated with such conditions. 
Caracas is not a favorable place from which to explore the resourees 
of Venezuela. It lies too far from the most interesting portions of the 
country. The Orinoco can be ascended better from Trinidad, and the 
Sierra Nevada requires an expedition on muleback to reach it. From 
descriptions given by travelers on the Orinoco and its branches, tle 
dangers from fever in the forest regions of Venezuela are very gretl 
and anyone undertaking their exploration risks his life. Mr & 
André, whose travels into the interior have been as extensive as any 0 
recent years, said he would not think of taking with him any perso 
who had not lived at least two years in the tropics and become atdl: 
mated as far as possible to conditions similar to those in Venezuela— 
Davip G. Faircuitp, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 
SOME SPECIES OF TETRANEURIS AND ITS ALLIES. 
We sometimes hear the statement that the difficulties for tit 
systematic botanist are being multiplied by the breaking up of somal) 
of the old genera and the creation of new species from former aggre 
gates, but practical experience shows, it seems to me, that sé 
gation, when based on describable characters, certainly simplifies. oe 
replacing of the untenable Ac#ine//a by TZetraneuris, Rydber gia, a | 
Picradenia (Pitt..3: 265), is a case in point. 
The reduction of several good species to one (an aggregate) mas 
necessary a description so general that the amateur in the field has. : 
difficulty in placing the most aberrant form until he collects 4s 
of specimens clearly unlike. In the past, reduction of speci ® 
often occurred because certain ones were rare and hence not i 
represented in the herbaria, but it seems unfair to eliminate ae 
simply because it exists in a locality not easily accessible 01M 
visited. Le 
is 
Being located in the center of distribution of Tetranenris ao 
allies, I became interested in the group. The following notes 
descriptions are offered as supplementary to Dr. Greene's valu . 
paper cited above. oo 
on 
Bis 
_ TETRANEURIS ACAULIS (Pursh) Greene, Pitt. 3: 265. 1898 
Galardia acaulis Pursh, F). 2:743. 1814. Actinella acaulis Nutt 
7.&GF | 
23381. 1842, etc. oe 
