EXKURSIONSFLORA VON JAVA 137 



consideration of all the seed-plants which are found wild, natura- 

 lized, or as garden escapes, or which are extensively cultivated in 

 Java and the directly associated islands. 



The nomenclature and arrangement of families and genera is, 

 with few exceptions, that of Bngler & Prantl's Pflanzenfamilien 

 and Engler's Pflanzenreich. In the limitation of species, where 

 no more recent monograph was available, the author has followed, 

 as far as possible, our Indian and Colonial floras, especially 

 Hooker's Flora of British India. Besides his own extensive 

 herbarium, the result of many years' collecting in the island, Dr. 

 Reorders has examined the rich collections from the East Indies 

 at Leiden, and has also visited a few other important European 

 herbaria. He has also received assistance in certain orders from 

 well-known systematists. 



The arrangement of the work recalls that of Dr. Thonner's Die 

 Blutenpflanzen Afrikas. It opens with a table for the determi- 

 nation of families ; based partly on that elaborated by Dr. 

 Thonner and partly on Dr. Koorders's Zakflora von Java. The 

 table, which includes all the families of seed-plants, occupies fifty 

 pages, and the difficulty in working out a satisfactory family 

 clavis is illustrated by the great number of times which the 

 names of some of the larger or more variable families occur. 

 The account of the Gymnosperms precedes that of the Mono- 

 cotyledons in the text. The section Gymnosperms is very poorly 

 represented in Java ; there are two Cycads, five species of 

 Podocarpus, an Agathis (in cultivation only), and six species of 

 Gnetum. 



The method is as follows. Under each family there is a 

 description, this is followed by a key to the tribes or genera. 

 Each genus is then described in turn, and a key to the species 

 follows. The species key contains a good deal of information, 

 including a diagnosis of the plant, references to synonymy, distri- 

 bution in Java, citation of numbers in Koorders's herbarium, and 

 native names. The book is in fact a descriptive flora, with the 

 information arranged in the form of a key. In some genera a 

 monographic treatment is also adopted. Thus in Podocarpus the 

 key is supplemented by a descriptive account of the five species, 

 three of which are illustrated ; and the Pandanacece are treated 

 in still greater detail. The account of the latter family is based 

 on the author's phytogeographic and systematic revision of the 

 PandanacecB of Java, and includes several pages dealing with 

 geographical distribution, &c. .; there are also long descriptions of 

 each species, and in many cases sketches illustrating habit. The 

 arrangement of the genera of grasses is that adopted by Hackel 

 in the Pflanzenfamilien; while the account of the Orchids is based 

 on J. J. Smith's monograph (Die Orcliideen von Java). It will 

 thus be seen that there is necessarily some difference in value in 

 the treatment of different families. There is evidently much to 

 be done in working out the freshwater flora of the island. For 

 instance, six pond-weeds are mentioned, but except the endemic 



Journal of Botany. — Vol. 50. [April, 1912.] l 



