sometimes happen to strike upon a plant that ouglit by right to be looked upon as 
a iiew species, but if uo great care is taken, or no comprehensive materials of 
comparison are available, the result mostly will be only the adding of a new name 
to the syiioiiymic of some olåer species. Badly fouuded species may, of course, 
also result from overvaluing of characters in an aberrant form from a region other- 
wise well known to the author with regard to its flora. If only every aiithor would 
in establishing a new species, state its principals points of difference from its nearest 
ally or allies, or at least set forth which he looks upon as its nearest relative, much 
should be won. Now it is often impossible to make out from an incomplete descrip- 
tion without a figure, and without having access to speciraens, what to think of a 
new species. For phytogeography the result of such careless establishing of species 
will be either the arriving at more or less wrong conclusions about the affinities 
and perhaps also the history of the flora, or also much difficult and ungrateful 
work of indentification. Illustrations could easily be brought forward, but I shall 
abstain from doing it. 
If now we look upon tlie third group of « small species* as being merely a nui- 
sance to phytogeographical research — and in my opinion they decidedly are — we 
have to take position to the two other kinds. No doubt it would be an advantage to 
phytogeographical research, if instead of species of a more comprehensive descrip- 
tion those could be reckoned with which are referred to the two first groups, but 
in most cases that is impossible at present. If only a smaller area is in question, 
and if all paris of it have been equally well examined. or when at least some gene- 
ra may be looked upon as so well known all over a larger space, that we may take 
for granted, that practically all forms of specific value within the range of the spe- 
cies in a Linnean sense have become known, then phytogeographical reasoning may 
be based upon them, but the time, if it is ever to come, when our knowledge of 
the floras of regions of difficult access sliall be so deep and complete, certainly is 
far off yet. Another circumstance, not to be forgotten, is that such detailed treat- 
ment always shall make it necessary to have all materials of every «critical» genus 
examined by a specialist, as no single man will ever be capable of mastering all 
genera within a larger area. Therefore it will be indispensible to keep up, at least 
for a long time yet, species in the Linnean conception. Also for other departments 
of botany, such as anatomy and physiology, it would be a very good thing, if au- 
thors of « small species* of one kind or the other would always group them under 
«Linnean species«. The designation of « species* then could be reserved for the 
latter and that of csubspecies« for its components. 
Here I have necessarily had to take the species in something like the Linnean 
conception, as with species of a narrower circumscription many records would been 
useless, and the whole treatment would have been lacking in uniformity. 
