THE FERN BULLETIN 



Vol. XIII. JULY, 1905. No. 3 



SPECIES AND VARIETIES AMONG THE 

 FERNS/ 



By Willard N. Clute. 



It can scarcely fail to be noticed by one familiar with 

 matters relating to ferns that the describing of new spe- 

 cies of ferns from the United States no longer proceeds 

 with the great activity that characterized the industry a 

 few years ago. It has ceased as suddenly as it began. 

 And now that we are far enough from the period to view 

 the list of new species without prejudice, a few obser- 

 vations on species-making in general, and their applica- 

 tion to these species in particular, may not be out of 

 place. It is perhaps impossible to lay down absolute 

 rules for distinguishing a species from a variety, but it 

 seems entirely within the bounds of possibility to indi- 

 cate more clearly than has yet been done what are and 

 what are not specific differences. 



First of all, it is interesting to note in this connection 

 some of the ideas held by botanists as to what a species 

 really is. Linnaeus affirmed that " there are as many 

 different species as the Infinite Being created in the be- 

 ginning,'' and this is the idea that was generally held for 

 centuries. A modern definition of a species is that it is 

 " The present aspect of a line of organic development 

 destined to become something else in the future, as it was 

 something else in the past." This expression embodies the 

 Darwinian idea that all species are slowly changing. 

 Prof. Underwood attempts a definition in the statement 

 that " We may regard a species as. an assemblage of 

 ^individuals not differing essentially from each other, and 



* A revision of a paper bv the same title read at the meeting of 

 ^Fern Students at St. Louis, Dec 30, 1903. 



