HE BOTANICAL SOCIETY AND EXCHANGE CLUB - BSBI Archive

NOTES ON PUBLICATIONS, 1926. 51
iug pot. There is a very useful introductary chapter with excellent hints
on plant collecting, and a capiaus glossary of 22 pages. A description
, of the new species and varieties, which number 131, is also included in a .
separate chapter. The arrangement, of which we have already spaken,
begins with the Filicales, of which 146 are included. 'fhere are 11 Gymnosperms,
and 780 Angim;perms, a total of 937, of which 102 are alien.
These are comprised in 224 gene.ra. Useful analytical keys to the groups
and families are given. These occupy 16 pages. For the Ferns Engler's
sequence in the" Syllabmi " is followed. 'We are glad to. see DryopteriB
is used instead af Lastrea, &c. pte·ridiUln is emplayed but it has been
recently shown that Newllmu's JiJltpteris is the more correot 'name. Then
directly following the Equisetaceae comes Ranunculaceae of which only
four Buttercups appear to grow in the area. ]}rou,efii is the only British
one mentioned. Nasturt'i'tMI1 is used, and ill that has afficial sanction,
but Radic'ula is unmistakably the older name. Gardeners still use Nasturtium
for the T-ropaeolwlI, the latter a Linnean invention which early
excited opposition. ,"Ve notice that there are 22 species of l'olygalu, not
ano of them British. dUI'Ustellllll1l is kept up. 'fhe family name Ficoidaceae,
following N. E. Brawn, is used. Others prefer Aizoaceae. It seems
extraordinary to find Polygouaceae following so closely in the wake. One
is tempted to ask what is to/li entostun ,"Villd. P Jt is satisfaotory to find
that the correct dates for Rumex conglomera,tt!s 1770 and glomeratus 1771
are given. They were misquoted in "The Cambridge British Flora."
The Index is to the Families only. Parts H. and Ill. (to be issued) will
complete the Dicatyledons, and Part IV. the Monocotyledans. The latter
will have a general index to the faur parts. We anxiously await the
completion of this important contribution to the flora of the TransvaaL
and we are sure that it will be warmly welcomed by South African botanists.
Its merits will saon be recognised by a much wider circle, and we
trust it will sell in sufficient numben; to. avoid a serious pecuniary loss
falling upon its industrious author.
DEVONSHIRE. Seventeenth Botany Report, by Miss C. E. Larter.
Trans. Dev. Ass., Vol. lvii., 75-89, 1925. Includes Geranium nodosum
and Fragaria rnoschata fram E. Buckland, several varieties of Rosa
s!Jstyla and ather interesting forms including a nov. var. of R. dumetorum
= var. Sa'ueryi Wolley-Dod. Ping'uicula 'vulgaris appeared at
Ilsington in 1925. It is greatly to be hoped that same one will be found
who will complete a flora of this large and interesting county.
DRUCE, G. CLARIDGE. THE FLORA OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. pp. cxxviii.,
437. T. Buncle & Co., Arbroath, 1926; 25/-. The reviewer's task is by no
means an enviable one, in any case. If he avoids the Charybdis of
fulsome flattery on the one hand, he may be wrecked an the ScylIa of
hyper-criticism on the other hand, and vice versa. In the present instance,
hawever, he fears that even should he steer clear of both these
dangers, he may yet listen to the" call of the wild," deviate from his
intended course af reviewing a book, and run aground in attempting to