almost certain that a large number of these synonyms 

 were made prior to the movement for a " stable " nomen- 

 clature in America. The number of valid species as 

 given in Christiansen's work will in all probability have 

 to be reduced somewhat, as owing to the circumstances 

 many of the " new species " recently published have been 

 taken upon the authority of their authors. 



Absurdity in Nomenclature. — In 1850 a botanist 

 named Unger described a species of Isoetes as /. Braunii. 

 Fourteen years later this name did not seem to have 

 gained acceptance and Durieu then gave the same name 

 to our well-known quillwort. Somewhat later Engel- 

 mann considering this plant but a variety of /. echino- 

 spora made it Isoetes echinospora Braunii and under this 

 name it has been going up to the present. Prof. T. D. 

 A. Cockerell, however, is one of those individuals who 

 cannot let well enough alone and on the strength of that 

 earlier /. Braunii of Unger has proposed the name of 

 I. echinospora Brittoni for our plant. The absurdity of 

 naming this plant for a botanist who was not born when 

 the plant was first discovered seems not to have occurred 

 to the maker of the new name. We are the last persons 

 to object to honoring a man by naming a plant for him, 

 when the man has been associated with the plant in any- 

 way, but this deliberate taking away from one to enrich 

 another, as in this case and others than we can mention 

 (such as Porteranthus) , is a little too strong for us. 

 There is no likelihood that the two /. Braunii will ever 

 be confused. As between Braun and Britton we choose 

 the first. 



The Boulder Fern and Water. — Most ferns are so 

 adjusted to moisture and shade that they soon wither 

 when gathered for decorations, but the boulder fern 

 (Dicksonia pilosiusaila) which delights in sunny hillside 

 pastures is not one of the number. Although at first 

 glance its finely dissected and delicate fronds would seem 



