131 

 Gornus Again 



H. W. RiCKETT 



Mr. Farwell's contention really does not concern me, since I am 

 decidedly not endeavoring "to maintain as genera" the groups in 

 question ; this must be plain from my article. But Farwell's words 

 prompted me to open yet again the Alsographia and thumb through 

 its pages, with results which the readers of this journal may find 

 as amusing as I did. For the first time I noticed on page 76 the 

 Index of Genera, the sub-title of which says "Subgenera in Italics." 

 Rimning my eye down this I quickly found Eiikrania in italic and 

 Corniis in Roman, and was ready with chagrin to acknowledge my 

 error. But looking further I found Kraniopsis, which on page 58 

 is distinctly listed as "Subg.," in Roman, the same as Lentago, 

 while the sister subgenera Mesomera and Opuliis are in italic. 

 Throughout the work the manner of listing the species is Rafin- 

 esque's own. "Vib. L. rufidiihiui" means Vihurnuui, subgenus 

 Lentago, V. rufiduluin. On page 31 Rafinesque distinguishes 

 Lcptalix as a new genus to include the American species of 

 Fraxinus, and under it lists "Frax. vel. L. longijolia," and "Frax. 

 L. mixta." I think the conclusion is clear that one cannot solve 

 the riddle by typography, and I repeat that it is impossible to be 

 sure of the author's intentions, especially since in several places 

 he very clearly implies that he had not completely made up his 

 mind on the status of these items. I am perfectly willing to refrain 

 from being dogmatic about the generic status of Eukrania or 

 Cynoxylon; but a weighty burden of proof must rest on anyone 

 who recognizes these genera but disregards these names. The 

 work, incidentally, is not a monograph of Cornits, but a supple- 

 ment to Rafinesque's Trees and Shrubs of North America. 



New York Botanical Garden 

 New York, N. Y. 



