a 
2 Rhodora 3 [ JANUARY 
tion of plants Ruprecht included it, as Trinius ! had previously done, 
under Poa, indicating Atropis? as well as Phippsia, Catabrosa, Arcto- 
phila and Dupontia as sections or subgenera, thus: 
311. Poa (Phippsia) algida (R. Br.).”’ 
*312. Poa (Catabrosa) yey Koel: “i 
313. Poa (Atropis) Cistans 
314. Poa arctica R. Br. 
315. Poa alpina L.” 
“316. Poa pratensis L.” 
317. Poa (Arctophila) deflexa*.”’ 
“325. Poa (Dupontia!) psilosantha*.”’ 
On a succeeding page, in a note under Poa (Dupontia) poise 
Ruprecht made the observation that these various sections di 
from one another in certain characters: “Atropis Trin. (P. Sa: 
Catabrosae quoad glumas proxima, spiculas habet (saltem in statu 
virgineo) lineares, fere teretes;” ? and “From the condition of the 
glumes perhaps a series of genera as follows: Dupontia, Arctophila, 
Poa, Atropis, Catabrosa, Phippsia, Coleanthus.” The enumeration 
of these plants as species of Poa, Poa (Atropis) distans, ete. by 
Ruprecht (or Trinius through Ruprecht) and then the giving on a 
subsequent page of brief, inadequate characterizations with the 
suggestion that these Sections of Poa are “perhaps” genera, does not, 
it seems to us, clearly establish Atropis and others so treated as well 
published genera dating from 1845. And it is noteworthy that most 
authors who take up Atropis cite not only the Ruprecht reference but 
the later reference to Grisebach in Ledebour (1853)! as validating 
the genus. Grisebach, in Ledebour, certainly gave a clear generic 
characterization and treated the species unequivocally as species of 
Atropis, so that Atropis as a well published genus should date from 
Grisebach’s treatment in 1853. In 1848, however, Parlatore, with 
equal clarity and completeness had characterized Puccinellia as 
genus to include some of the species, P. distans and P. maritima, 
later placed by Grisebach under Atropis: and it seems to Us that 
the cause of sound nomenclature is best served by maintaining the 
fully and definitely published Puccinellia Parlatore (1848) rather 
than the inadequately and uncertainly published Atropis Trinius in 
Ruprecht (1845, validated by Grisebach in 1853). 
1 Trin. Gram. Suppl. 68 (1836). 
2 Rupr. 1. ec. 61 (1845). 
3 Rupr. l. c. 64 (1845). 
‘ Griseb. in Ledeb. Fl. Ross. iv. 388 (1853) 
