THE BRYOLOGIST. 
VOL. IX 
May, 1906 . 
No. 3. 
NOTES ON NOMENCLATURE VI. 
Elizabeth G. Britton. 
The most notable advance made at the Botanical Congress in Vienna 
(1905) was the unanimous adoption of the priority of the oldest specific name, 
and the total extinction of the varietal name as a factor in priority. The 
oldest generic name and the determination of the type species for every genus 
has not yet been adopted, but we hope that at the next Congress, five years 
hence, the committee on the Nomenclature of Cryptogams will not only see 
the importance of this rule, but also that the subgeneric name as a factor in 
priority will also become extinct. 
M. Cardot, Prof. Brotherus and myself are members of the commission 
to decide on questions of nomenclature for the mosses at the next Botanical 
Congress at Brussels, and it is hoped that some logical agreement will be 
reached. M. Cardot is still following the Paris Code of 1867, Section 58, and 
is giving the oldest subgeneric name priority over a later generic name, but 
he is not doing this consistently for, if he adopts Cryphceadelphus (C. M.) he 
should also adopt Aptychus of the same author. In Engler & Prantl, 
Pflanzenfamilien, Prof. Brotherus has also adopted two changes of sub- 
generic to generic names, and he has called my attention to a duplication of 
names which has occurred, each of us coming to the same conclusion indivi- 
dually and separating, almost simultaneously, the genus Alsia into two 
genera. 
In the following notes, all changes affecting North American mosses are 
listed and illustrations of two genera, new to the United States, are repro- 
duced, from parts 222 and 223 of Engler and Prantl Pflanzenfamilien, 
which were delayed in reaching us. 
Erpodium (Brid. ) C. M. Bot. Zeit. I: 774. 1843. 
In the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club for May, 1905, I have called 
attention to the error in citing Bridel as the author of this generic name. He 
printed it as a subgenus of Anoectanginm, and it was Carl Muller who 
raised it to generic rank. E. Doming ense (Brid.) C. M., is the type species 
from Santo Domingo, and it has also been collected in Jamaica and Porto 
Rico. E. Cubense , E. G. Britt, from Cuba, E. Pringlei , E. G. Britt, from 
Mexico, and E. biseriatum (Aust.) Aust. from Georgia, have been described 
by me. (Bull. T. B. C. 3 2:266, 1905, and Bryologist 8:71, 1905). Dr. Max 
Fleischer has examined the type of E. diver sifo limn, C. M., at Berlin, and 
thinks it is referable to E. Domingense. E. Paraguense Besch. has been 
described. (Mem. Soc. Nat. de Cherbourg 21 1265, 1877.) 
The March BRYOLOGIST was issued March 3d, 1903. 
