62 



appressed silky pubescence and few-flowered peduncles. So 



many species of Evolvulus of northern South America extend 



into Central America and the West Indies that it is possible the 



species here described may be found in Panama or Central 



America. 



Homer D. House. 

 Clemson College, South Carolina. 



REVIEWS 



Scott on the Present Position of Palaeozoic Botany * 



Band i, Heft i, of Progressus Rei Botanicae published by the 

 International Association of Botanists under the editorial super- 

 vision of Dr. J. P. Lotsy promises to be of very considerable 

 value, if one may judge from the initial instalment. Leaving it 

 to others to characterize the merits of Strasburger's and of Fla- 

 hault's contributions, I wish to direct attention to the very valu- 

 able summary by Scott of " The Present Position of Palaeozoic 

 Botany." 



Paleobotany has been to such a large extent divorced from 

 botany in the past and so largely ignored by botanists that I am 

 sure that this summary will be read with surprise by a goodly 

 number who have heretofore looked upon paleobotany with some- 

 what of disdain as a science engaged in the more or less ques- 

 tionable occupation of describing fragments of prehistoric plants 

 whose identification is more or less uncertain. Granting that 

 identifications are oftentimes not all that might be desired, and it 

 maybe remarked parenthetically that this shortcoming is not the 

 exclusive possession of those who deal with fossil plants, never- 

 theless the fact remains that the number of fossil plants in some 

 orders, as for instance the Cycadales, far exceeds their living 

 representatives; other orders are wholly unknown in the modern 

 flora (Sphenophyllales, Cordiatales) ; while in still other groups 

 the modern representatives are but mere remnants of once large 

 and complex assemblages whose existence would not have been 



* Scott, D. H. The Present Position of Palaeozoic Botany. Progressus Rei 

 Botanicae i : 139-217. 1907. 



