— 246 — 



of a common parent, such as Darwinism supposes: that is, no intermediate 

 population can be found in the neutral zone, representing either the an- 

 cestor or a transition stage; but only a niedley collection of peculiar 

 „mosaic" forms, composed of some characters of the one and some of 

 the other species Indeed, thèse inhabitants of the neutral zone behave 

 exactly like hybrids of the overlapping species, if their distinguishing 

 characteristics were supposed to obey the laws of Mendelian ségrégation ; 

 they appear pure, independent from each other, and in al! possible com- 

 binations. In view of thèse certainly reinarkable facts, Bateson advocates 

 a radical change in our collecting and classifying methods, in order to 

 throw more light on the mode in which new forms come into existence. 

 „The kind of information wanted has indeed only been lately recognized, 

 „and really critical collecting is a thing of only the last few décades. The 

 „methods of the older collectors, who aimed at bringing together a few 

 „typical spécimens of ail distinct forms, are of little service in this class 

 „of inquiry, which is better promoted by the indiscriminate collection of 

 «large numbers of common forms from many localities." ') «Almost always 

 „the collections are arranged in such a way that the phenomena of 

 «variation are masked. Forms intermediate between two species are, if 

 «possible, sorted into separate boxes under a third spécifie name ..... 

 «Only by a minute study of the original labels of the spécimens and by 

 „redistributing them according to locality and dates, can their natural 

 «relations be traced.'" 2) 1 entirely concur with thèse suggestions, which 1 

 hope will be taken to heart by systematists, especially those working in 

 the genus Camellia. 



For example, I already mentioned the case of C. cjfinis, a hairy form 

 of C. caiidata, the former growing in se. ihern China, the latter in India. 

 1 am convinced that this hairiness, constituting the essential différence 

 between both species, is due to one (or more) hereditary factor(s). It is, in 

 fact, the main point of différence between several allied species of Cam^///fl, 

 as will be seen from my détermination table. Since however, some few 

 glabrous individuals occur in the affinis area, they may with some reason 

 be considered as segregates from this hairy race. 



Several instances point to a possibility of grouping the species other- 

 wise than I, in accordance with the gênerai view, did above. Thus, in 

 the EucamelUa section, we are struck by the isolated position of Edithae, 

 which, by its lanceolate sepals and hairy surface, keenly reminds us of 

 C. salicifolia (Section 1); both plants are found in S. E. China! In the 

 same section, C. reticulata, shinkoensis, hongkongensis and speciosa belong 

 very closely together, and C. japonica, which has most features in common 

 with the foregoing, is however sharply separated from thèse by its having 

 a glabrous ovary — a characteristic found back in only one other species 

 of this section (C. yiinnanensis). But if we should try to unité reticulata, 



') W. Bateson 1913, p. 146. 

 '^) Ibidem, p. 11. 



