THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 115 



place in the flower gardens, At present, only a small part of 

 the desirable plants of the world are cultivated. Some, to be 

 sure, are difficult to cultivate outside of the very restricted 

 limits to which they are adapted, but many others only need 

 a little attention to make them real acquisitions to the flower 

 garden. These plants are slow in coming' into use, however, 

 because the dealers in plants are mostly interested in catering 

 to a demand that already exists, rather than in stimulating an 

 interest in new forms. This work of introduction usually 

 devolves upon the amateur. The catalogues of nurserymen 

 are pretty much alike. After a few years of studying them, 

 the species offered can be named almost in their order. Our 

 Government is doing' very admirable work in stimulating 

 interest in new things through its encouragement of explor- 

 ation in many out-of-the-way places of the earth. A number 

 of the new forms imported have been sent to the editor of this 

 magazine for experiment, mostly to discover whether they 

 are hardy in this climate. We have a considerable num- 

 ber of such forms, also, which have been received from cor- 

 respondents in various parts of the United States. Many of 

 these are likely to develop into very desirable garden forms, 

 after they have had a short course of education in the ways of 

 civilization. * '* * 



On another page of this issue, we reprint some observations 

 by Dr. L. H. Bailey regarding the botanical status of certain 

 of our garden plants. As is well known, many of these are not 

 good botanical species or varieties, but complexes whose origin 

 is for the most part unknown and possibly undiscoverable. In 

 appearance, however, they are like good botanical species and 

 are usually recognizably distinct from closely related forms. 

 They even come true from seeds in many cases. The question 

 of their proper naming has been taken up none too soon, for 

 their numbers are being constantly increased by horticulturist 

 and plant breeder. At present our systems of nomenclature do 



