THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 65 



to our Northwest botanists (Piper, Howell) we have two dis- 

 tinct varieties of the Oregon Grape : the Berberis aquifolia, 

 known to the common people (that is those not having botani- 

 cal knowledge) as the wild holly, and Berberis nervosa, the 

 common Oregon grape, which rarely attains a greater height 

 than eighteen inches and has not the holly appearance of the 

 other. I have both varieties growing in my garden. The 

 leaves of the larger variety are pinnately veined and those of 

 the smaller variety palmately veined. The fruit of one is much 

 like the other and that of the smaller and more common variety 

 is much sought after by housewives as it makes a most de- 

 liciously flavored jelly, only the berries must be picked early 

 or they become wormy. I think the plant you picture in the 

 Botanist is B. Nervosa and not B. aquifolia. — C. B. Maxfield, 

 Seattle, Wash. [The "trailing" part of the name mentioned 

 above is no doubt due to the fact that the species was once 

 known as B. repens. Since repcns may be translated as creep- 

 ing, or trailing, the makers of our books seized upon this as a 

 good "English" name. Such a proceeding illustrates the fu- 

 tility of trying to make a "common" name for every species 

 whether it is commonly known or not. There is certainly no 

 excuse for ever making an "English" name and there can of 

 course, be no "common" names unless plants have such names 

 by which they are commonlv known. Eamiliar plants may, 

 and frequently do have a number of vernacular names ; that 

 is names by which they are called in our mother tongue. 

 Prof. Nelson notes that this plant is the State flower of 

 Oregon. — £f/.] 



Microscopic Species. — It used to be possible to distin- 

 guish different species in a macroscopic genus by macroscopic 

 characters, but the refinements of the species-splitters have 

 been carried so far that it is now actually impossible in certain 

 cases to identify big husky wildflowers unless one is equipped 



