176 Miscellanies, 



Flora of Japan, Flora of North America. 



Diervilla, several species, Diervilla Tournefortii, 



Viburnum tomentosum, Viburnum lantanoides. 



Wisteria (or as it should be Wistaria) > Wistaria frutescens. 



Japonica, and two other species, 3 



Paulownia imperialis, Catalpa cordifolia. 



While about half the species thus far published are nearly related 

 to (chiefly characteristic) North American plants, only eight, besides 

 those given above, belong to genera which have no representatives in 

 this country. The list might be greatly extended by comparisons 

 from other sources. Thus Hoteia Japonica of Morren and De 

 Caisne, (which belongs to the earlier established Astilbe, Don,) which 

 was by Thunberg mistaken for Spirsea Aruncus, closely resembles our 

 ov/n Astilbe decandra, which has been more than once confounded 

 with Spirsea Aruncus. On some future occasion we hope to make a 

 somewhat extended comparison between the Flora of temperate 

 North America, and that of Japan and Middle Asia. 



8. Grisebach, Genera et Species Gentianearum, adjectis obser- 

 vationibus qiubusdam phyto-geograpJiicis. (Stuttgart and Tubingen, 

 1839, pp. 364, 8vo.) — The most useful works in natural history at 

 the present day are monographs of separate orders, v»'hen prepared 

 from sufficiently extensive materials ; and this account of the known 

 species of Gentianaceous plants, by Dr. Grisebach, now of Gottin- 

 gen, is one of the latest and best works of the kind. The typograph- 

 ical arrangement, however, is not what it ought to be, and this is 

 an important matter in books of the kind. In this respect, as in 

 every other, the most perfect model for a monograph is Mr. Ben- 

 tham's Genera et Species Labiatarum. Dr. Grisebach first gives 

 the natural character of the order, in detail ; then follow some inter- 

 esting observations upon the anatomical and morphological structure 

 of these plants. Two species are selected, viz. Swertia perennis 

 and Gentian a lute a ; and in these the organization of the flower is 

 traced from the earliest period when it is distinctly visible through all 

 its stages up to its complete development. The petals, which are 

 united into a monopetalous corolla, are found to be originally dis- 

 tinct ; this is now known to be the case as a general rule ; so that 

 when we say that a monopetalous corolla is formed by the consolida- 

 tion of several petals, a calyx, of several united sepals, &c., our lan- 

 guage is not the mere expression of an hypothesis, but the statement 

 of observed facts. The conclusion is first deduced as a consequence 

 of the theory of floral structure, and is then verified by actual exam- 

 ination, and thus the theory is confirmed. The stamens in their early 

 state are distinct from the petals, although at length the filaments ad- 



