1895.] Recent Literature. 1073 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
Flora of Denver.'—The author of this little book states in her 
prefaces that “this Flora was written with the sole aim of helping 
students to learn the names of the plants that grow around Denver.” 
She has accordingly made a simple book, in which, however, she has 
striven to secure areasonable amount of scientific accuracy. In this 
she has succeeded very well. She has descriptions, (sometimes very 
short, and in sedges and grasses a mere list of names) of about 500 
flowering plants, which must prove useful for the young people who 
study the plants of the vicinity of Denver. We understand that this 
is a prodrome of a more complete work to appear in the future. In it 
doubtless the nomenclature will be modernized and characters sup- 
plied to the families and genera.—CuaRr es E. Bressry 
Two Plant Catalogues.—In 1868 the Portland Society of 
Natural History published a Catalogue of the plants of Maine, which 
has been a standard list for a quarter of a century. We now havea new 
Catalogue’ in which the results of much recent work have been incor- 
porated. In the Catalogue proper issued in 1892 we find 1509 species 
and varieties of Phanerogams and 69 Pteridophytes. In the supple- 
ment these numbers are increased by 149 Phanerogams and 6 Pterido- 
phytes. Seventy-seven names must be dropped from the original list, 
leaving at present a total of 1656 species and varieties. This is in 
truth a very good beginning toward the acccomplishment of the final 
catalogue, of which this is but the forerunner. 
The arrangement and nomenclature are ultra-conservative, and this 
in spite of the fact that the author recognized the propriety of changes 
in both. Such a course is not scientific, nor do we think it is wise. 
What defense can be made of this—which we find on p. 42? “ While 
in the case of the class Gymnorperme it would perhaps have been well 
to follow the more natural system of placing it between the Monocotyle- 
donee and the Pteridophyta, yet it has been thought better to follow 
closely the sequence adopted by Gray;” or of this in the next para- 
14 Popular Flora of Denver, Colorado, by Alice Eastwood. San Francisco. 
Zoe Publishing Company. 1895, 57pp. 
2 The Portland Catalogue of Maine Plants, Second edition extracted from the 
Proceedings of the Portland Society of Natural History, 1892, and Supplement 
tothe Portland Catalogue of Maine Plants, extracted from the Proceedings of the 
Portland Society of Natural History, 1895, by Mr. L. Fernald. 
