NOTICES OF BOOKS AND MEMOIRS. 98 



A becent Bulletin (No- 18) of the United States National 

 Museum contains a Flora of St. Croix and the Virgin Islands, by 

 Baron H. F. A. Eggers. Of these islands, which lie to the east of 

 Porto Eico, the principal are Vieques and Culebra, belonging to 

 Spain; St. Thomas and St. Jan, belonging to Denmark; andTortola, 

 Virgin Gorda, and Anegada, belonging to England. The list 

 (which comprises 1013 species of phanerogams and vascular 

 cryptogams, 881 being indigenous and 132 naturalised) is preceded 

 by an interesting sketch of the more noteworthy points presented 

 by the flora, the general character of which, both in St. Croix and 

 the Virgin Islands, is distinctly West Indian. No less than 

 one-third of the whole surface of the islands is covered by a 

 dry shrubby vegetation of a greyish or yellowish aspect, which 

 is styled by Baron Eggers the " Croton vegetation," from the 

 predominating genus comprising its elements. Four new species 

 are described — Rhus antiUana, Gidlandma melon osperma, Angaria 

 glonierata, Epidendrum subaquale. 



The last number of the Journal of the Eoyal Horticultural 



Society (vol. v., No. 9, December, 1879) contains an interesting 



paper, by Mr. H. J. Elwes, entitled "Notes on the genus Tulipa," 



which the author intends as supplementary to Mr. Baker's 



" Revision " of the genus (Journ. Linn. Soc. xiv., 275-296). Mr. 



Elwes has cultivated a very large number of Tulips, and his 



remarks upon them mainly support Mr. Baker's estimate of the 



proportion to which specific rank should be accorded ; but he is 



disinclined to allow this to a few admitted as species by Mr. 



Baker, some of which are only known in gardens, and of doubtful 

 origin. 



Br. F. Buchenau has published a review of the Juncacece 

 (Bremen, 1880), under the title " Kritisches Verzeichniss aller bis 

 jetztbeschriebenen Juncaceen nebst diagnosen neuer Arten." It 

 commences with a complete list of all the described forms of Junciis, 

 Luzula, &c, which are reduced to the species retained by the 

 author in the classified enumeration at the end of the pamphlet. 

 Br. Buchenau describes two new species of Juncus — J. similis, 

 Buch. (Swan River, Drummond, No. 937), and J. Eadula, Buch. 

 (Murray River, Victoria, Wawra, No. 493); and one of Luzida 

 L > effusa, Buch. (Sikkim, Hooker and Thomson, No. 3). There 

 are also elaborate notes on many of the species. 



Dr. G. W 



llis ■ Arf. nt 1 



great 



issues of the work, and contains a good deal of information which 

 will be interesting and useful to the economic botanist. There 

 is still room for improvement, however, and Dr. Piesse would do 



or 



a 



Well to have his proofs read by a competent botanist before issuin w 

 another edition. We find, on p. 114, " the Sweet Verbena {Verbena 

 tr l/phi/U (( ); the Lipia citriodora, and Aloysia citriodora" : these are 



Uin 



volume 



us. 



