24 



nected with the growth of young fronds' stands in favor of the 

 latter view." 



Those who have had occasion to examine our plant in spring, 

 must have noticed the great number of large black ants to be 

 found on the unfurling fronds. Whether their visits are of ad- 

 vantage to the plant is not apparent, although it is certain that 

 thev are attracted bv the nectar. 



VARIETAL AND SPECIFIC NAMES. 



Generic and subgeneric names are expressions of arbitrarily 

 formed groups which have justification simply in their con- 

 venience. From a Darwinian standpoint, these groups must con- 

 tain species which are not less related to one another than to 

 species assigned to other genera or subgenera. There is to be, 

 in fact, a natural continuity or contiguity as with the inches on 

 a foot rule. But granting this, it is then a matter of taste or 

 custom how large such divisions may be made. The subgenera 

 of one generation or one author are often the genera of the next. 

 Species and subspecies, on the other hand, are units isolated by 

 nature. It is not a matter of taste how many species exist, 

 though one might imagine so. to read the current botanical 

 literature. Ultimately we shall have to know how many forms 

 stand physiologically isolated from one another and these will be 

 recognized as true species. Subspecies are similar, except that at 

 some point the isolation is as yet incomplete. The word variety 

 may as well be abandoned as a distinct category; but it is useful 

 as a refuge when we do not know the proper status of a plant. 

 The "form" (forma) is really something different. As I under- 

 stand it, it expresses a phase existing wholly within specific 

 limits: a result of the variability of the organism, spontaneous or 

 induced by external conditions. — T.'D. A. Cockerel! in Torrcya. 



