THE PLANT WOELD 117 



EDITORIAL 



In the deatli of Professor Thomas C. Porter, of Lafayette College, 

 Pennsylvania has lost one of her oldest and most noted botanists. For 

 many years Dr. Porter has been known as one of the pioneers in the 

 studj^ of the Rockj^ Mountain flora, the first results of which are to be 

 found in the " Flora of Colorado," and in later years he has been a 

 close student of Pennsylvania plant life. We hope to publish in an 

 early issue of The Plant Woeld a brief biography with portrait. 



The article by Mr. W. W. Ashe, State forester of North Carolina, 

 published in this issue of The Plant World, will be read mth interest 

 not only by professional botanists, but by amateur students as well, for 

 it explains in detail just how the scientist discriminates between spe- 

 cies. Many persons have very vague ideas of the natural distinctions 

 to be found in various groups, and quite fail to realize how many im- 

 portant factors are considered before the botanist feels free to name 

 and describe a species new to science. 



In the hawthorns, to which Mr. Ashe's paper is devoted, we find 

 an unusually large list of available characters for study. Frequently 

 the only means of distinguishing between excellent natural species lies 

 in the form or structure of a single organ — flower, fruit, or the like. It 

 has been claimed that science should recognize only as many species 

 as are popularly appreciated and understood; but this is too extreme a 

 view to take, for the untrained eye would often fail to observe distinc- 

 tions of the utmost taxonomic importance. It would, however, be an 

 excellent plan if all workers in botany would confine their descriptions 

 of new species to such as they may have been able to distinguish in the 

 living state. It is certain that the present tendency toward an inordi- 

 nate multiplication of species will result some day in a violent reaction. 



