21> 



sitioii, but unfortunately the specimens cited at that place do 

 not belong there, but are Paspaluni Underwoodii, a quite different 

 plant, and a relative of P. denstan Poir., a fact which I distinctly 

 pointed out when publishing /-*. Undcrivoodii. 



Another inaccuracy is in making xwy Paspa/mii If c/icri i^ynony- 

 mous with /'*. i^/ahniin Poir. The writer saw the type of the 

 latter species at Paris, and it is a much more slender j)lant with 

 smaller and glabrous spikelets. 



But perhaps the most curious case of reduction is by Dr. 

 Urban himself when he makes my Moitacluic snbi^ialn-a a variety 

 of lirioc/i/oa punctata. No reason is given for this unless it be 

 the words placed in parentheses, " non vid." 



Three new species are described, all by Dr. Pilger : Aristida 

 Portoricensis, Eragrostis macropoda and Artlirostylidiuui sarnun- 

 tosnni. One of these, Eragrostis macropoda, must be reduced to 

 synonymy, for it is the true Poa nitida Ell., Dr. Pilger's remarks 

 to the contrary notwithstanding. This is unfortunate, for the 

 name macropoda is most appropriate, as the distinguishing feat- 

 ure is the long peduncle of the spikelets, a character mentioned 

 by Elliott likewise when describing his Poa nitida; moreover, 

 there is in the herbarium of Columbia University a specimen 

 from Elliott, labeled in his own handwriting Poa nitida, which 

 agrees with his own description of that species, so that the ques- 

 tion is thereby taken out of the realm of uncertainty. Dr. Pil- 

 ger remarks in a note that in Eragrostis nitida [Poa nitida Ell.) 

 the spikelets are almost sessile, a statement clearly at variance 

 with the facts, as pointed out above. There is a species with 

 almost sessile spikelets, closely related to this, and inhabiting the 

 same region, and it is probably this which Dr. Pilger has mis- 

 taken for the true Poa nitida Ell. I refer to the Poa rcfracta 

 M u h 1 . \_Eragrostis refract a ( M u h 1 . ) S c r i b n . ] . 



The work is a welcome addition to the literature bearing upon 

 the grasses of the West Indies, for it brings together in a con- 

 cise manner a large proportion of the species found in that 

 region, and for this a grateful appreciation and congratulations 

 are extended. 



GeOKGE V. N.ASH. 



