318 
Floristik, Geographie, Systematik etc. 
Menezes, C. A., As gramineas do archipelago da Madeira. 
(Funchal, 1906.) 
Dans cette publication Fauteur fait le catalogue descriptif des 
especes de Graminees rencontrees jusqu’ä ce jour dans l’archipel 
de Madere, recoltees par lui ou par les botanistes qui ont etudie 
la flore de Madere, R. T. Lowe, E. Cosson, J. Morrin, Dr. M. 
Vahl. Le catalogue contient 94 especes, leurs habitats et les noms 
vulgaires bien notes. J. Henriques. 
Parish, S. B., Notes on the flora of Palm Springs. (Muhlen- 
bergia. III. p. 121 — 128. Dec. 1907.) 
Contains the following new names: Echinocystis macrocarpa 
leptocarpa (.Micrampelis leptocarpa Greene), Mirabilis Californica 
aspera (M. aspeva Greene), Salvia Vaseyi (.Audibevtia Vaseyi Porter), 
Philabertia hirtella (P. heterophylla hirtella Gray), and Isomeris 
arborea angustata. Trelease. 
Penhallow, D. P., A manual of the North American Gym- 
nosperms. (374 pp. 55 pl. Boston, 1907.) 
This work is divided into two distinct parts: a general account 
of the structure of coniferous wood, and a systematic account of 
the North American genera, both recent and fossil. The scope of 
the book is narrower than the title indicates, for the treatment is 
exclusively from the standpoint of wood structure, which is consi- 
dered sufficient to settle all questions of affinity. In the general 
section, a few directions for cutting and staining wood sections are 
first given, then follows a discussion of the following structural fea- 
tures: the growth ring, tracheids, bordered pits, medullary rays, 
wood parenchyma, resin passages. Upon the data thus furnished is 
based a phylogeny of the conifers. Some such form as Poroxylon is 
believed to have given rise on the one hand to Cordaites and the 
Araucarineae , and on the other hand to the Ginkgoales and Conife- 
rales. Among the last, the Taxodineae are considered to be the most 
primitive, especially on the evidence of the resin cysts in Sequoia . 
Most highly organized are the Abietineae , and especially the genus 
Pinus. These conclusions are supported by an elaborate computation 
based on the presence or absence of certain anatomical characters 
which are regarded as having phylogenetic significance. Chapters on 
durability and decay of wood conclude the general section. The 
systematic part contains a useful key for determination of coniferous 
woods, and a series of detailed diagnoses, which describe the trans- 
verse, radial and tangential sections in the various species. Over 
fifty photomicrograps illustrate the main features of the diagnoses. 
M. A. Chrysler. 
Petitmengin. Primulaceae Wilsonianae. (Bull. Acad. int. Geogr. bot. 
XVI. p. 215—219. 3 fig. 1907.) 
Description de 3 Primeveres chinoises: Primula DielsiiP. Le- 
comteij P. Veitchiana, publiees par Fauteur dans Le Monde des 
Plantes, 1907, n°. 44. J. Offner. 
Scott Elliot, G. F., Notes on the Trap-flora of Renfrewshire 
(Scotland). (Annals of Andersonian Naturalists Soc. Vol. III. 
Glasgow 1907.) 
The trap rocks are porphyrite, etc. interbedded in the Upper 
Old Red Sandstone. Through glaciation and denudation, the rock 
