156 TALKS AFIELD. 



How Plants are Named, 

 It is a popular notion that when a botar 

 nist finds a new plant he at once recognizes 

 it as new and immediately gives it any name 

 which may please his fancy. To the non- 

 botanist it appears one of the easiest of mat- 

 ters to define and name a new plant, while 

 in fact it requires a broad knowledge, an ex- 

 treme accuracy of expression, and an uncom- 

 mon acumen. What is a new plant ? The 

 botanist, with a manual in hand of all the 

 plants known to occur in his region, finds a 

 plant which does not agree with any of the 

 descriptions in the book. He at once recog- 

 nizes the plant as a violet, for instance, but 

 he finds no name for it. The first thought 

 comes, May this not be an abnormal form or 

 a peculiar variety of some old species? May 

 there not be intermediate forms all the way 

 between this plant and the bird's-foot violet, 

 which it much resembles? And who is to 

 decide the limits of the species? Who is 

 able to pronounce whether the new plant is 

 entitled to a full specific rank, or whether 

 it is a mere variety, a form ? " Species are 

 judgments," says our great botanist, and nec- 

 essarily he who has the best judgment, who 



