TAXONOMY OF THE HIGHER PLANTS 207 



sistence in relation to geomorphic processes; and perhaps most important 

 of all, the synthesis of data from all these diverse sources into a whole picture 

 of particular plant groups and the present-day plant cover of the earth's sur- 

 face. Thus, the entire world of plants is our bailiwick and the manifold 

 ramifications of their evolutionary relationships are the guide lines of our 

 activities. 



But I am sure that all taxonomists will not agree as to the relative need 

 for research in the various areas of study within the field. Some might point 

 to the many bizarre new plants being discovered and recorded for the first 

 time from the Amazon basin of South America or similar remote areas of 

 the world and suggest that plant exploration needs much attention; and I 

 would agree. To find new plants, one need not go far afield. Who would have 

 suggested five years ago that there were four undescribed species of any 

 genus of plants east of the Mississippi River in the United States? Yet, I have 

 recently described four new species of Lesquerella (1952, 1955) from Ten- 

 nessee and Alabama. These are not species already represented in the collec- 

 tions but only now recognized. They are species not even seen by Payson 

 (1922), the most recent monographer of the genus, and not known to anyone 

 except the most recent collectors. Indeed, we do need plant exploration, and 

 not only in remote places. 



The taxonomy of cultivated plants has been much neglected, and many 

 groups of tremendous importance to man's economy are in dire need of 

 study. There are many reasons why cultivated plants offer excellent oppor- 

 tunities as objects of study from both scientific and practical points of view. 

 Some of these reasons have been given by Anderson (1952), along with a left- 

 handed dressing down of taxonomists for not having previously put their 

 subject in order by concentrating attention on plants of the fields and wastes. 



There is a very large amount of information about plants that is essentially 

 lost because it is so scattered. Some suggestions to help this situation were 

 made at the last International Botanical Congress by Just (1954), Lanjouw 

 (1954), and myself (1954). In essence, the proposals were for the prepara- 

 tion of an encyclopedia of plants or a "genera plantarum" by taxonomists 

 under some world-wide scheme. Such a compendium is badly needed and is 

 something that should be worked toward. 



The number of unsolved problems and the amount of needed research in 

 the taxonomical field are staggering. As pointed out above, not only are there 

 hundreds of groups of the vascular plants that remain without any definitive 

 treatment, but many areas of the world have no book available that will tell 

 about the plants that are present there. Our hope and concern is that as we 

 move along developing new techniques, new areas of discovery, and new 

 ways of looking at old information, the plants of the world will continue 

 to become invested with an ever-greater mantle of man's learning as a result 

 of our efforts. Furthermore, we hope that in the search for truths about plants 



