9cS THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



curretice of such an extra(»rdinar\- floral phenomenon could 

 hardly have escaped all of these vij^ilant eyes. Thus it is 

 that the imputed existence of the blue dandelion that has con- 

 cealed itself from all eyes but those of Mr. Hoar and the 

 editor of a Boston magazine cannot fail to excite doubt 

 amr)ng students of botany. 



Mr. Hoar refers to a creation of mv own ima^^ination, 

 the "Jersey Devil" and recalls that "hnalh- the perpetrator 

 of the hoax cashed it in by capturing and exhibiting the 

 beast." 1 ask him to note that thus and in such manner did 

 I g"ive the pul)lic a chance to see for itself and draw its own 

 conclusions. If Mr. Hoar can I)e persuaded to do something 

 of the kind, the blue dandelion controversy can be settled for 

 all time. He speaks of his "twenty-foot row of blue dande- 

 lion plants" which "althoug"}! flourishing with a tropical lux- 

 uriance, has not produced a single seed." With restraint I 

 refrain from italicizing one or two words in the quoted sen- 

 tences. 



It will be conceded that the editor of the Aiiicrican 

 Botanist would l)e a competent arbiter in a matter of the 

 kind and it is fair to assume that from his "twenty-foot row 

 of blue dandelion plants" the fortunate owner will be will- 

 ing to spare one specimen for Mr. Clute's inspection and 

 classification. This, as it seems to me, would be the short 

 and straight road to either authentic recognition or repudi- 

 ation of the genuineness of Mr. Hoar's discovery. And 

 in the event that it is officially decided that in the procession 

 of botanical science the marchers are all out of step but Mr. 

 Hoar and the Atlantic editor, I want to be the first to sug- 

 gest that the new variety be named after the sharp-eyed dis- 

 coverers. 



An article in the Botanist in which I expressed belief 

 tliat Mr. Hoar would share the fruits of his "discovery" 



