Ballon's Piodroinus- 
Sept. 
dj6 
^ary^om ol' Pursli. Tlie Veronica sca- 
tellata must foiin a new species, which Mr. 
R. calls V. uiitrinosa : the JVeluinhiuni 
speciosum ought to have been called jV. 
litieuin : the Cerastium Semidecandruin 
of the U. S. is a peculiar species, which 
Mr. R. calls C. piirnilum, kc. 
It is to be noticed wdth regret that Dr. 
W. P. C. Barton has adopted the erro- 
neous generic denomination Centaureila 
of Michaux, erroneous in a double view, 
because that genus had been previously 
dedicated to his own uncle Dr. Benj. 
Barton by Dr. Muhlenberg, published by 
Wildenow under that name in the Acts 
of the Berlin Society, and adopted by 
Persoon, and because the name of Cen- 
taureUa is defective, according to the wise 
rules of nomenclature established by Lin- 
nseus, being a diminutive of Centaurea, 
an old genus. His pretext is that the ge- 
nus JBaWom'a of Muhlenberg and Wilde- 
now is obsolete, and another new genus 
has been named Bartonia by Nuttall and 
Pursh; but unless a fourth name/ and a 
barter one be given to the Bartonia of 
WildenoAV ; a third one likewise errone- 
ous {Cenfaurium) having been given to 
it by Persoon through an oversight, 
(since he had adopted the Bartonia in the 
same volume), the Centaureila of Mi- 
chaux must retain its old and good name 
of Bartonia, and the Bartonia of Nuttall 
must be called JVuflnllia ! as Mr. Rafines- 
que has named it in his Florula Missuri- 
ca. Seven neiv species are introduced in 
this Prodromus ; some remarks will be 
offered on each of them. 
1. Potainogdon diversijblkun — page 
27. .It. happens that ever since the year 
1311, Mr. C. S. Rafinesque has given the 
very same name to another species of this 
genus, ■whicii was the P. hphridv-m var 6. 
of Michaux, butwhichisa peculiar spe- 
cies, distinct likewise from tise P. hetero- 
plvjllnm of Europe, see Enumeration of 
Anier. Potamog. in Med. Rep. p. 46. liex. 
S, vol. 2, p. 409. The species of Dr. 
W. P. C. Barton must therefore receive 
another name. It is proposed to- call it 
P. di morphinii. Its characters are stated 
as follow.' Minute, filiform, upper leaves 
dotUng elliptic petiolated half an inch 
lon,g, with 8 nerves, lower leaves sessile 
tillform, many minute axillar spikes. 
This species is the P. Se.iaceuiii of Pursli, 
page 1.20, l)ut not of Wildenow, being 
diderent from the European. 
2. Pprola convoluta — page 50. This 
ap]iears to he the P. asarfolia of Mi- 
chaux, and Ihereforonot neiv. 
3. H jpcrici'in, — witii’ont a name ! page 
74. Imperfectly described; it appears 
very similar to H. nudijlorun of Michaux, 
&.C. ; if it should be diSerent, the name of 
H. adpressum may be given to it. Diag- 
nosis. Stem upright, quadrangular leaves, 
lanceolate, obtuse, smooth, upright- 
branches opposite. The wTiter of this 
article was informed verbally by the 
autlior that it is herbaceous and trigy- 
nous. 
4. Jlster corinnbosus, var 6. alatus , — 
page 81. Petiols winged, leaves deeply 
acuminated, deeply serrated, teeth acu- 
minate. 
5. ,/lster philadelphicus, — page 81. 
Branches horizontal, leaves long linear. 
Next to A. tradescanti. 
0. Aster tenuiculus, — page 81. Branch- 
es sveak, leaves linear, or oblong-linear, 
slightly serrated in the middle Next to 
A.fragilis. 
We shall not dare to pronounce on 
these three species of Aster ; in such an 
extensive genus, when new species are 
so imperfectly noticed, they cannot be 
considered as ascertained. 
7. Malaxis correana, — page 86. This 
species had been mistaken for tlie M. 
loesdi by some American botanists, but it 
is perfectly distinct from the loeseli of 
Europe. Pursh has omitted this plant. 
Dr. Barton gives the following tolerable 
description of it. Bnlb round, scape two 
leaved, leaves broad — lanceolate, spike 
oblong, labellum cordate concave canali- 
culate shorter tlian the petals. — Obs. 
Spike few' (lowered, flowers herbaceous, 
petals yellow'ish, scape quadrangular, 
leaves scarcely plicated.; blossoms in 
Juno, grows in shady wmods. 
The. author of the Prodromus profess- 
es to mention only such species as wu;re 
found hy himself, or his friends ; he does 
not assume, therefore, to give us a com- 
plete enumeration of the platits of Phila- 
delphia ; in fact a great many plants w^ell 
linow'n by our botanists are omitted by 
him. We are acquainted with several 
which were found hy Mr. C. S. Rafines- 
que in the neighbourliood of that city, 
and for the gratification of the student 
Ave shall mention some of them, hoping 
tliat ]3r. Barton Avill avail himself of these 
additions, whenever he may publish the 
real Flora Philadelphica. We shall use 
the characters M. E. and A. for Vernal, 
Estival, and Autumnal. 
Viola rolundifoliaMx. This is omit- 
ted Pursh, and is very distinct from 
Ills V. clandestina, found on the ^ issahi- 
kon, rare, V. 
Viola hlanda. Wild, common, neat 
the Schuylkill, V. 
