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REVIEWS 



Coulter and Nelson's New Manual of Rocky Mountain Botany* 



Teaching botanists in the Rocky Mountain region, and in ad- 

 dition a wide circle of people who are interested in knowing the 

 vascular flora, will welcome the " New Manual of Rocky Moun- 

 tain Botany" by Professor John M. Coulter, of the University 

 of Chicago, and Professor Aven Nelson, of the University of 

 Wyoming. For years there has been no satisfactory manual 

 of the region available. Since Coulter's "Manual of the Rocky 

 Mountain Region appeared in 1885, botanists have been active 

 in the field, greatly increasing the known species and segre- 

 gating large genera. Several publications, among these Pro- 

 fessor Nelson's Key to the Rocky Mountain Flora, dealing in- 

 adequately with the spring and early summer flora have appeared 

 at intervals. In igo6 there was pubhshed, at the Colorado 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, at Fort Collins, the " Flora of 

 Colorado " by Dr. P. A. Rydberg, which contains analytical keys 

 to the orders, genera, and species but no decriptions of species. 

 It, therefore, has been necessary in order to insure correct iden- 

 tification to consult original descriptions or to submit specimens 

 to the expert. 



The new manual is not in any sense a revision of Coulter's 

 Manual. Professor Nelson has completely rewritten the book 

 and assumes responsibility for any errors it may contain. He is 

 well qualified for the task, having given in the neighborhood of 

 twenty years of careful study to the flora of the Rocky Mountain 

 region. He has had a large experience in the field ; has gathered 

 by his own efforts, and with the aid of his pupils, and by exchange, 

 a splendid herbarium; and has familiarized himself with the orig- 

 inal descriptions and checked these by an examination of the 

 plants. No man to-day is more familiar with the vascular plants 

 of the region than is Professor Nelson. 



It is a satisfaction to find the book is neither ultra-radical nor 

 strikingly conservative in taxonomy. Freedom from extremes 



* Coulter, John M. Revised by Aven Nelson. Pp. 646. American Book Com- 

 pany, New York. 1909. ^2.50. 



