BOTANY. 
Proressor BABINGTON on Anacnaris. — The editors of the 
Narvrattsr will do a favor by reprinting Professor Babington’s 
short article, contributed to the April number of the “ Journal of 
Botany,” in order that the attention of our botanists may be called 
to it during the coming summer. It may be that we have two 
water-weeds, as Babington and Planchon supposed ; one dicecious, 
the other hermaphrodite. In that case the characters of the two 
are commixed in my manual. That plants with ‘* hermaphrodite 
flowers really do exist in the United States” is certain. Dr. Tor- 
rey’s “ Flora of the State of New York” describes them, and I 
ean vouch that the description was taken from living plants. He 
says “‘the stamens are mostly three, but varying to four, five or 
six, or more.” As to the male flowers, of the peculiar structure 
and economy described by Nuttall, so far as I know these have 
been since collected only by Dr. Engelmann at St. Louis, who 
gave specimens both to Dr. Torrey and myself.. Dr. Torrey states 
that he describes these specimens. It is to be hoped that Dr. 
Engelmann may be able to find this sterile-flowering plant again ; 
and that all our botanists will examine the plants they meet with 
and preserve specimens of any different kinds or sexes of flowers 
they may detect. 
Professor Babington appears to have overlooked Caspary’s elab- 
orate papers on these plants. As to the name, now that Adan- 
Son's genus is Elodes, there is nothing to prevent the restoration 
of Elodea.—A. Gray 
. 
On Axacmars.— There is far from being a concurrence of 
Opinion concerning the proper -generic name of the plant called 
Anacharis Alsi 
Flo Se Ei p- 7 ; i 
ata ( Benth. Handb. ed. 1, 499; ed. 2, 447 ) the generic name 
ym 
Richard defined genera with each of the names Elodea, 
(297) 
= 
