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A HISTORY OF BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE^D an IL Nicolson bstract I divide botanical nomenclature into three partly overlapping periods: the schismatic period , the dark ages , and the lAPT renaissance (1950-date). The schisms began with the 1843 British Association for the Advancement of Science approval of zoological rules and became manifest with the 1867 Paris Congress approval of Alphonse de CandoUe's botanical "laws." Reunification efforts, such as those by Dall (1877.12), failed. The contemporary rise of "Darwinism" added to the divisiveness. By the late 1800s, various botanical centers had or were evolving modified or different Codes from the Candollean, not to mention fully formed Codes from "outsiders" like Saint-Lager (1880.03?, 1881.04) and Kuntze (1891.10). The 1905 Vienna Congress eliminated all but the Brittonian (American) schism, which continued until the 1930 Cambridge Congress compromises. A nomenclatural "dark age" descended when the 1915 London Congress was cancelled because of a subsequent engagement, World War L The next congress (Ithaca, 1926) declared itself incompetent due to insufficient International representation. The 1930 Cambridge Congress revised the 1912 Brussels Code but, largely because of the death of Briquet In 1931, its Code appeared only a few months before the 1935 Amsterdam Congress that amended it. Again a World War struck and no official Amsterdam Code was ever produced. The 1950 Stockholm Congress saw the establishment of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, its journal, Taxon, in which all Code amendment proposals now appear, and its serial publication, Regnum Vegetabile, in which all subsequent Codes appear at the remorseless sixyear pace of the congresses.

Flowers of 23 species representing six subfamilies of Araceae were studied by means of serial cross sections, special attention being given to vascular patterns and to taxa of supposed phylogenetic importance. Floral structure is shown to be extremely diverse with no unifying pattern common to all subfamilies. Conclusions include the following: (1) Lysichiton has a specialized gynoecial vascular pattern which differs from others encountered in the survey and which weighs against the primitive position attributed to this genus by Hutchinson. (2) Philodendron, with its multiple stylar canals, cannot have originated from subfamily Pothoideae, as Engler's phylogenetic concept would require of all Araceae; instead, it appears that several syncarpous evolutionary lines have evolved independently from extinct apocarpous members of the family. (3) In Acorus, stamens are introrse and dorsal carpellary bundles are lacking; these characters and others justify the recognition of Acorus as a separate subfamily Acoroideae. In addition, the survey revealed a peculiar deterioration of the inner ovary wall and the septa in several taxa, apparently a normal feature of floral development. Spathiphyllum solomonense Nicolson is described in an appendix.

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Nicolson, Dan Henry. A Revision of the Genus Aglaonema (Araceae). Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, 1 : 1-66. 1969. -This revision of Aglaonema (ranging from northeastern India through New Guinea) is based on study of over 1500 herbarium specimens in 33 herbaria, supplemented by field studies and over 100 personal collections made in southeastern Asia over a period of 18 months. Much of the literature of the genus is reviewed, particularly on cytology, embryology, and morphology. The taxonomic portion of the text includes keys, synonymies, descriptions, notes on range, habitat, typification as well as discussion of taxonomic and nomenclatural problems.SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY this subject and their own findings, said, "We feel that on reinvestigation many reports of Helobial type may turn out to be of the Cellular type."Campbell (1912, p. 107) reported that in pictum the polar nuclei fused, but he did not study further development; however, in Aglaonema simplex and probably also in A. modestum, and A. commutatum there was no fusion of the polar nuclei, according to Campbell (1912, p. 107). These two nuclei remained separate and each divided, making four free nuclei, after which cell wall formation began. In other cases, in A. simplex, discoid groups of flat cells were observed."These are bounded by delicate but evident cell walls and in the undivided cavity of the sac may be seen several free nuclei between which walls are beginning to form (Campbell, 1912, p. 107)." Gow ( 1908, p. 40) reported that in Aglaonema versicolor (A. pictum) endosperm formation is of the cellular type. In A. nitidum, Gow ( 1913, p. 128) reported that the endosperm nucleus gives rise to a heavy-walled endosperm developing simultaneously with the embryo.Campbell (1912, p. 108) reported that, in Aglaonema simplex, the first formation of endosperm is at the chalazal end and proceeds upward, filling the sac with a few large cells. The smaller endosperm cells at the chalazal end look like antipodals.