Volume 14 Number 4 



The Plant World 



A Magazine of General Botany 

 APRIIv, 1911 



AMERICAN BOTANY. 



George J. Peirce. 



L 



As one looks from some fortunate spot upon an extended 

 landscape, details are lost, merged by distance. The interest 

 of the view is in the relation of its parts, their elevations, contours, 

 forms, and distances, rather than in the details themselves. 

 One gains an impression, knowing meanwhile that the whole 

 is the sum of its parts. One may live with a view, may be 

 drawn to visit its special features, may learn its details, may 

 even devote oneself to the study and cultivation of one of them ; 

 but in describing the view, one must speak in general terms. 

 Can one give more than impressions, leaving details to the 

 imagination of the listener? 



Similarly, if one attem])t to speak of xVnierican botany as 

 a whole, of its past, its present, and the possibilities of its futtire, 

 one must attend to proportions rather than to particulars. One 

 must recognize, too, that what we call American botany is such 

 geographically and not intrinsically. It is a part of a whole, 

 and affected by the other parts. American botany has not 

 developed df! novo, following a spontaneous generation. It is 

 not an instance of the origin of a species by isolaticm. It came 

 from over sea, it pioneered, established itself, spread; it traveled 

 eastward and grew westward; it reacted to foreign influences 

 and adapted itself to its immediate environment. It has strug- 

 gled for existence, it has some vestigial characters; but on the 

 whole it is fairly \igorous, fairl\- ])r()linc organism. Neither 



