126 



In a brief preface the author states the object of the Flora — 

 the presentation of " descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and 

 fern-allies growing naturally within the southeastern United 

 States as limited by the northern boundaries of North Carolina, 

 Tennessee, Arkansas, Indian Territory and Oklahoma, and the 

 one hundredth meridian, together with the known geographical 

 distribution of each species." Following the preface is a table of 

 contents, and on the remaining pages designated by Roman 

 numerals appears an admirable key to the orders. 



The sequence of the plant-groups follows mainly, but not 

 always, the arrangement adopted by Engler and Prantl in their 

 Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien, the most noteworthy exceptions 

 being found in the positions assigned to the orders Santalales 

 and Aristolochiales, which are placed many steps higher up in 

 the systematic arrangement. 



The nomenclature is in accordance with the Rochester and 

 Madison code, the principles of which are now so well estab- 

 lished, and besides, English or vernacular names have been asso- 

 ciated with the more widely known species. The chief charac- 

 ters of the subkingdoms with their classes and subsequent 

 families and genera appear in their positions throughout the text, 

 and lucid analytical keys have been prefixed to their descrip- 

 tions and to those of the species. 



Turning over the neatly printed pages, the reviewer is im- 

 pressed by the excellence of the typography and the ease with 

 which the eye can differentiate and find the subject matter. The 

 specific descriptions are terse and diagnostic, and the use of the 

 metric system adds greatly to the precision. Frequent acknowl- 

 edgments of contributions, revisions or assistance from special- 

 ists appear among the pages, showing that about twenty-five 

 persons have so aided in the work, while the number of con- 

 tributed manuscripts is as many as twenty-eight. The present 

 tendency to separate natural groups of plants into distinct genera 

 is strongly illustrated in the present work, some striking examples 

 being found in the treatment of the families Oxalidaceae, Euphor- 

 biaceae, Spondiaceae and the tribe Galegeae of Fabaceae. This 

 practice has the peculiar advantage of diminishing the size of 



