WAX PALMS— BOMHARD 317 



fruits.^" Karsten did not write a travelog of the Quindio; in fact, 

 liis technical description of the wax palm of the eastern slope, which 

 bears the specific name, quindiuense, is set down in seven lines — three 

 in Latin and four in German. Perhaps he did not expend more 

 words on this species since it was perfectly clear to him that its 

 characters Avere unlike much of Humboldt's description of G. andicola 

 with its violet-colored fruits, single spathe, and bulged trunk. 



Since a name has been proposed for the two species on either slope 

 of the Quindio, it would seem jjerfectly simple to adopt these and 

 throw Humboldt's name away. But such procedure is not in accord- 

 ance with scientific rules of nomenclature. It seems a pity to have 

 to admit that, after 135 years, no one knoAvs just Avhat Humboldt's 

 C. andicola really is and yet the confusion is easily explained. 

 Many persons, some of them able botanists, have traveled the Quin- 

 dio since Humboldt's time, and it is natural for them to have as- 

 sumed that G. andicola is a firmly established name for a well-under- 

 stood species ; certainly the type locality is for the palm on the eastern 

 slope. It must be recalled that our information concerning many 

 kinds of plants, including palms, comes from diverse sources, repre- 

 senting what has been gleaned by many individuals, often at the cost 

 of tremendous effort and untold hardships. It is not surprising that 

 conflicting statements, several names for the same plant, and incom- 

 plete data sometimes result. It must also be borne in mind that it 

 was mainly due to the efforts of European botanists — Humboldt, 

 ]\Iartius, Karsten, Spruce, and others — of the nineteenth century that 

 the rich flora of South America was made known. The study of 

 palms, in particular, is attended with certain special difficulties. 

 They often grow in places which are quite uninhabited and where 

 travel is not easy ; the flowering and fruiting branches may be quite 

 inaccessible high up on a tall, sometimes spiny stem, and observations 

 from below are likely to be inaccurate ; most palms bloom briefly each 

 year — some only once before they die; it is definitely out of the 

 question for a collector to be at all the palm localities at the proper 

 time to obtain all the data necessary to a complete understanding 

 of each species ; moreover, incidental palm discoveries are frequently 

 made while exploring for other plants. Then, too, it is scientifically 

 impossible to make an adequate disposition of palm genera and 

 species merely from the study of herbarium specimens or of indi- 

 vidual plants introduced into gardens far removed from their native 

 home. The unusual character of the wax palms suggests that they 

 are particularly deserving of special investigation. 



1° Karston publisliod these species under his new genus Klopstockxa, probably named 

 in honor of the German poet, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. 



