»^ NOTE and COMMENT [^« 



Dandeuon Species. — According tu a recently issued 

 Flora of Sweden, there are 99 ditferent species of dandelion in 

 that country. Dandelions, as any thrifty housewife can as- 

 sure us, present great variations in the form of leaves, but 

 there seems room for a reasonable doubt that each form is a 

 different species. If so, then the dandelion species of a few 

 years ago has become a genus with a multitude of species. It 

 has been well said that "species are judgments." It all de- 

 pends upon who is doing the judging. One who works long 

 with any species sees numerous differences in the forms com- 

 posing it that the superficial observer does not perceive. The 

 mother of twins usually has no difficulty in distinguishing the 

 one from the other. One may find surprising variations in a 

 single row of radish seedlings, but to call each a species would 

 be absurd. Objections to such a procedure, however, do not 

 arise merely from a desire to criticise. It does not take much 

 discernment to see that if the mere naming of plants is put on 

 such a basis that it repels the beginner who might otherwise 

 be interested in it, the science is harmed rather than helped. 

 Let the species-splitter and name-tinker make as many cate- 

 gories of closely related plants as he wishes, but let liim also 

 realize the rights of the public in his work and cease confusing 

 the beginner, as well as the advanced student in other lines, by 

 naming as botanical species every variation from the normal. 



Cold Deserts and Dry Deserts. — When the desert 

 is spoken of, one usually forms a mental picture of a hot, dry, 

 sterile waste, but this is only one kind of desert, and possibly 



