NOTICES OF BOOKS AND MEMOIRS. 23 



figures, and collectors being quoted under each, but they would 

 Lave been much improved if the author had headed them with a 

 brief distinctive diagnosis, similar to those employed by A. DeCan- 

 dolle in his monograph of the Smilacece. The type adopted for the 

 synonyms is the same as in the first volume : some improvement 

 in this respect is much needed. The genera and species are much 

 reduced in number, and the reduction of many of Schott's species 

 seems carried too far. Scliott, in his ' Prodromus ' (published in 

 18G0), enumerates over 960 species ; since then a large number of 

 others have been described, yet the total number of species 

 enumerated by Engler is only 800, including 31 here described for 

 the first time; he has reduced many of Schott's species to 

 synonyms without having seen the types, not having consulted the 

 English herbaria, in which a large number of Schott's types are 

 preserved : there is no statement as to what herbaria have been 

 seen by him, so that it is difficult to know to what extent the 

 descriptions have been made from authentic specimens. It is to 

 be regretted that the author did not examine the types in the 

 herbaria of the British Museum and Kew ; had he done so, the 

 synonymy might have been made much more correct, and several 

 doubtful species might have been cleared up, such as HomaJoniena 

 major, minor, and rostratum, Griff, (published by a misprint as 11. 

 Roshalum), Arum GrijjiUiii, Sch., &c. Some important generic 

 changes are made; thus Thomsoma and Staurostigma, being older 

 names, are adopted in place of Pythoniiuu and Asterostigma ; 

 Bracht/sjiatha and Gonophattw are reduced to sections of the genus 

 Amorphophcdlus ; Leptopstion, Cylleniuui, and Ischarum to sections of 

 the genus Biarum ; Tap'nwcurpus and Calyptrocorym to Therio- 

 phonum; and Heterostalis to a section of Typhonium. Only one 

 new genus is created — Porphyrospatha, Engl., a split off from 

 Syngonium. One of the new species, viz., Aristana tripartitum, 

 Eng. (Oldham, 819), is not an Arisania, but identical with 

 Pmdlia tripartita, Sch. ; it is incorrectly described by Engler. In 

 most of the genera a grouping clavis is given to facilitate the 

 determination of the species; this is a great improvement upon 

 Schott's < Prodromus/ and of great use, but unfortunately, in some 

 instances, the author has not made a happy selection of characters ; 

 thus in Anthurium the form and colour of the berries are used as 

 primary characters in the clavis ; this is very misleading, -as the 

 berries of a large proportion of the species are unknown, and when 

 known will not always be found to fit with his clavis; e.g., A. 

 domininnse (p. 154) is placed in a group characterised as having 

 "baccie subglobosse, virescentes M (p. 153) ; this plant fruits every 

 year at Kew, and the ripe berries are obovoid and bright purple- 

 red ! Sometimes also his description of the berries is at variance 

 with the clavis ; thus on p. 116 is a group with " baccae subglobosse," 

 under which are placed A. coriaeeum, A. Olfersianum, and J. Ian* 

 ceolatum, and the berries of all these he describes as obovoid! In 

 the genus Arwema, also, A. d ipiens, Sch., is placed in the wrong 

 group, owing to his having misunderstood Schott's description; 

 the spadix of this species is straight, subtruncate, and only reaches 



