—94— 



In "A Study of Certain Mexican and Guatemalan Species of 

 Polypodium," published in "Contributions from the United States 

 National Herbarium," William R. Maxon has made five new 

 species of Polypodium out of the specimens which other students 

 have referred to P. subptiolatum, P. biscrratum and P. Schaff- 

 ner.i, basing his conclusions largely upon the quality and disposi- 

 tion of the pubescence. Although the reviewer is unable to 

 judge of the distinctness of these species without seeing speci- 

 mens, he is of the opinion that pubescence is not of enough 

 importance to warrant the taking of diagnostic characters from 

 it. 



In the Torrey Bulletin for January, Dr. L. M. Underwood 

 published "An Index to the Described Species of Botrychium." 

 in which six new species are described. Most, if not a'l. are 

 segregates or varieties with "slight environmental characters,'' 

 among them the Jamaican form of B. virginianum which is 

 named B. dichroniim in allusion to its possessing two fronds at 

 one time. As the collector of the type specimen has pointed out. 

 this second frond is that of the preceding year, minus its fruiting 

 portion, which the mild climate of Jamaica allows to remain 

 through the winter. A similar state of affairs exists in the 

 United States in the case of B. tcrnatum, which being hardier, 

 endures our winters unharmed. Since there are no hard and 

 fast lines limiting species, every author is free to consider 

 species as varieties or varieties as species, as to him seems best, 

 but the reviewer, who collected the specimen from which the 

 new species was described, believes that the Jamaican plant is 

 a mere geographical form of the other. 



BOOK NEWS. 



The first part of Dr. Grout's "Mosses with Hand Lens and 

 Microscope."* an amplification of his previous work, "Mosses 

 with a Hand Lens," has just appeared. If the other parts are up 

 to the standard of the present one. the whole work cannot fail 

 to be of great value to moss students. It is very fully illustrated. 



*Mosses with a Hand Lens and Microscope, by A. J. Grout, New 

 York. Published by the author. 1903. 86 pp., 4to. $1.00. 



