1? 



Gymnosperms, as is well known, have a remarkable development 

 in California both as to number of species and as to the dimen- 

 sions of individual trees. The botanical traveler on the Pacific 

 Coast is soon impressed by the fact that the Sequoias are not the 

 only "big trees." Professor Jepson gives the maximum height 

 of the redwood {Sequoia seinpervirens) as 340 feet ; the " big 

 tree " {Sequoia giganted), 325 feet ; the lowland fir {Abies gran- 

 dis), 275 feet; the sugar pine {Pimis Lambertiana), 250 feet ; the 

 yellow pine {Pimis ponderosa), 225 feet ; the noble fir {Abies 

 nobilis), 250 feet; the red fir {Abies magnified) and the white fir 

 {A. eoncolor), 200 feet; the Douglas spruce {Pseiidotsiiga taxifolia), 

 200 feet; the tideland spruce {Picea sitehensis), 190 feet; the 

 arbor- vitae {Thuja plieata), 190 feet ; the coast hemlock {Tsnga 

 hetej^ophyila), 180 feet ; the Lawson cypress {Chamaecyparis Law- 

 soniana), 175 feet ; and the'incense cedar {Libocedriis decurrens), 

 150 feet. 



The families treated on pages 337-368 of the second part of 

 Professor Jepson's work are the Salicaceae, with the genera 

 Salix (17 sp.) and Popidus (3 sp.) ; Betulaceae, with the genera 

 Alniis (4 sp.) and Betula (2 sp.) ; Corylaceae, with the single 

 genus Coryhis (i sp.) ; Fagaceae, with the genera Qiterens (14 

 sp.), Pasania (i sp.), and Castanopsis (2 sp.) ; Juglandaceae, with 

 the single genus Juglans (i sp.) ; Myricaceae with the single 

 genus Myrica (2sp.) ; and Urticaceae, with the genera Urtica (3 

 sp.), Hesperocnide (i sp.) and Parietaria (unfinished). 



The work includes good half-tones illustrating the general 

 form and habit of selected species of trees and there are also 

 drawings shov/ing some of their less conspicuous diagnostic 

 characters. Keys to genera and species accompany the descrip- 

 tions. The nomenclature seems to be that of the Vienna Rules. 

 The press-work is excellent, but one notes several small errors in 

 writing or editing. Nee appears uniformly and persistently with 

 the accent over the wrong " e" ; Endlicher is endowed with a 

 prenomen that is the Latin ablative form of his name as it appears 

 on the title-page of his Synopsis Coniferarum ; Thuja is spelled 

 with a " j " in the key and the bibliographical references but with 

 a " y " in its main position ; Podocarpus is made to end in " um " ; 



