27 



of Porto Rico, by Dr. I. Urban, a matter of considerable moment. 

 The fust instalment comes as fascicle I, Vol. IV, of his .Symbolae 

 Antillanae, and treats of the Ptericloph)'ta, and of the Sperma- 

 tophyta as far as the Chloranthaceae. The grass family is 

 naturally the one of especial interest to the reviewer, the more so 

 as he published a few months ago a preliminary enumeration of 

 the grasses of the same region, basing his work upon the material 

 in the herbaria of the New York Botanical Garden. 



The material for the work here reviewed has been determined 

 in the main by Professor E. Hackel, but some few of the 

 genera have been revised by other students of this family : 

 Ariiiidinclla, CoicJirus, Aristida, Boutcloiia, Lcptocldoa, Plirag- 

 mitcs and Eragrostis by Dr. Pilger ; and Panicuin and Paspaluvi 

 by Dr. Mez. 



That this work will be of great value to students of the grasses 

 of the West Indies, it is hardly necessary to state. There are 

 accredited to the island 38 genera and 125 species, with a few 

 subspecies and varieties. This must represent a large proportion 

 of the entire grass flora of the island, and the size of this list but 

 emphasizes a marked deficiency in the work, the entire absence 

 of keys of any kind, not alone to the species, but also to the 

 tribes and genera. This want seriously curtails the usefulness of 

 the work to any but specialists and is to be the more regretted, 

 as it is but intensified by contrast with other admirable features, 

 notably the full citation of synonymy, localities, and specimens. 



In the matter of nomenclature, the work is for the most part 

 up to date, and carried along on consistent lines, but one cannot 

 but note such exceptions as these, and wonder at their retention : 

 Sctaria and Lccrsia, homonyms, are maintained, and Chactochloa 

 and Hoina/occnchn/s, both available, are reduced to synonymy ; 

 and EriocJdoa Kth., although published three years later than 

 Monachne Beauv., is preferred to that genus. 



In the matter of generic limitations a conservative course has 

 been pursued, and as conservatism is often but another name for 

 tradition, inconsistencies have crept in here and there. This is 

 especial!}' noticeable in the treatment of the Paniceae. Here Chac- 

 tocJdoa Scribn.(5r/<?';vVr Beau\-.,as the\' persist in calling it, although 



