BOOK NEWS. 



The sixth edition of 44 Our Native Ferns,"* just issued, is 

 almost identical in arrangement and appearance with the earlier 

 editions, but fern students will find it of special interest from the 

 fact that the text has been extensively revised. The result, how- 

 ever, will scarcely please those who take a conservative position 

 upon the question of nomenclature. Former editions have recog- 

 nized twenty- four genera of North American ferns , the present 

 one shows thirty-two. The additional genera have been made 

 by elevating to higher rank what were formerly considered sec- 

 tions of other genera. These changes and the substitution of 

 older names for others, involves the changing of either the generic 

 or specific names in no less than nifteen of these genera. We 

 now have Ornithopteris for Anemia Gymnopteris for Gymno- 

 gramma, Cheilogramma for Tcenitis, Struthiopteris for Loma- 

 ria, Metteuccia for Struthiopteris, Filix for Cystopteris, Denn- 

 stedtia for Dicksonia, and Phymatodes, phlebodium and Campy- 

 Ion euron for parts of PolyPodium. For sections of other genera, we 

 have Cheirog/ossa, Pteridium, Polystichum, Phanerophlebia, 

 and Tectaria. In specific names are noted, Botrichium neglectum 

 for B. matrieariafolium^ Adiantum Jordani for A. emargina- 

 tum\ Polystichum Lemmo7ii for Dryopteris or Aspidium Moh* 

 roides, and Selaginella bryoides for 5 cinerascens. The little 

 rock fern which was once a Pteris and later a Pellaia, is at 

 present resting as Cryptogramma Stelleri. In making changes 

 in generic names Prof. Underwood has simply been guided by 

 the latest rules of nomenclature. These were formulated to 

 enable us to have something like stability, but the end does not 

 seem to have been atiained. The making of new genera is 

 mostly a matter of opinion. Fern students pretty generally 

 favor Polystichum for the Aspidiums with peltate indusia, but 

 many will consider the others an over refinement. In the matter 

 of range the author seems to have overlooked several important 

 extensions, such as Adiantum capillus-veneris in Dakota, 

 Asplenium viride in the Northwestern States, and Woodwardia 

 radicans in Washington. Dryopteris simulata is recorded from 

 New Hampshire and Massachusetts only, although the Under- 

 wood herbarium contains sheets of this species from New York, 



41 Our Native Ferns and Their Allies," by Lucien Marcus Underwood. 

 Sixth edition revised. New York, Henry Holt & Co., igoo. i2mo. 156 pp. 

 $1 00. 



