138 THE A^[ERTCAX ROTAXIST 



one must not only kn<«w when and where it was collected, but 

 who collected it ! 



When species closely resemble one another, it requires, of 

 course, very nice distinctions to determine their position in 

 the plant world. One then realizes the truth ot the dictum 

 that "species are but judgments" and can appreciate some of 

 the difificulties of the strict scientist. A fertile subject for dis- 

 cussion is whether similar plants of the Old World and the 

 New belong to the same species. In the northern part of both 

 Hemispheres, there are numerous plants that appear to be iden- 

 tical but that are not always called so, and the difficulty of 

 judging them properly is increased by the fact that the mater- 

 ial used for comparison is usually in a dried condition. One 

 who has w^orked in an herbarium knows that the closet bot- 

 anist may become so accustomed to dried plants as to fail to 

 recognize their living representatives. It is said that when an 

 eminent New England botanist found it hard to name a plant 

 fresh from the field, he used to say to his followers "Let us 

 dry it and then see how^ it looks !" 



But unless one is making a dead set at nomenclature and 

 taxonomy, the vagaries of the technical botanist need give him 

 no concern. The fields and woods are full of flowers that are 

 quite recognizable and easily named. To find them year after 

 year, springing from the selfsame nooks and punctual to their 

 time of blooming, almost to a day, is a pleasure that the strict 

 scientist, engaged with dry facts, often misses entirely, but 

 one that is never denied children, poets, and all good botanizers. 



