257 



RECENT TENDENCIES IN AMEEICAN BOTANICAL 



NOMENCLATIVE. 



By the Editor. 



The vexed questions connected with botanical nomenclature 

 have been, for the most part, settled in Europe by the adoption of 

 the "Laws" formulated by M. DeCandolle. These Laws were dis- 

 cussed by Dr. Asa Gray with his wonted care and ability, and in 

 the main were approved and followed by him, and by his fellow- 

 worker, Dr. Sereno Watson. But there has arisen a new school 

 of able and active botanists, who aim at introducing a system 

 of nomenclature which, as it appears to us, can only result in the 

 introduction of fresh elements of confusion, and must certainly in 

 any case result in an increased synonymy — a contingency far from 

 desirable, except in cases, such as the restitution of Salisbury's 

 genus Castalia* where it is unavoidable. Even among the very 

 limited number of species comprised in our own Flora, many 

 sweeping changes of name have been made in the last few years, 

 since this question of priority came to the front ; the system upon 

 which these alterations have been made has been accepted by British 

 botanists, not without some natural grumbling at the temporary 

 inconvenience caused, because, once established, it can undergo no 

 further change. It is also that laid down in the Law T s (art. 48) as 

 follows : — 



For the indication of the name or names of any group to be 

 accurate and complete, it is necessary to quote the author who first 

 published the name or combination of names in question." 



This, however, is not the method which commends itself to the 

 new American school, as expounded in several recent papers, and 

 especially in the preface to ■ A Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta 

 and Pteridophyta reported as growing spontaneously within one 

 hundred miles of New York City,' for a copy of which I am indebted 

 to my almost namesake, Dr. N. L. Britton. The nomenclature of 

 this Catalogue has been entrusted to a sub-committee, consisting of 

 Dr. Britton and Messrs. Stern and Poggenburg ; and they have 

 laid down the necessity of following the custom of zoologists in 

 regarding the earliest specific name of any species as absolutely 

 unchangeable, no matter to what genus it may be transferred, 

 excepting, of course, the cases in which that name may have been 

 preoccupied in the genus to which transference is made. It will 

 be best to quote their ~~ ~i-~*— i- ~* ^ •«• Jl ' 



taken up : — 



"In the case of nearly every plant it is possible to ascertain 

 positively who first named it in accordance with the Linn«3an 

 binomial system. The original author may have failed to refer it 



a 



own 



nwillingness 



ignorantly or throu 



* Journ. Bot, 1888, p. 8. 



Journal of Botany. — Vol. 26. [Sept., 1888.] s 



