100 
UlS'I KIHI TOH S RKI’ORT TOR 1952 
DISTRIBUTOR’S REPORT FOR 1952 
Alter a period ol deeliue lollovved by a time when the annual nunil)cr 
of contributions remained stationary, tliis season’s contributions have 
shown a sharp increase in numbers. The quality of gatherings, too, has 
been steadily rising for the last two or three years. We can therefore 
feel confident that the Section is no longer fading out, but have gi'ounds 
for thinking that it has begun to expand again. This turn in its fortunes 
prompts the Distributor to write a longer Report than usual, and to 
review the Section’s position in the botanical Avorld of to-daj'. 
The Exchange Section exists for the distribution of, and discu.ssion 
upon, specimens of critical or otherwise little-known British plants, and 
of other suitable specimens bearing on the study of the British flora. 
This does not include rarities, which are in any case usually only too 
well-known, and the rules provide that rare plants, critical or not, shall 
not be accepted. The discussion upon the specimens, which is basically 
a most important aspect of the Section’s work, forms the main part of 
the printed Distributor’s Report, and contributors receive extra copies 
for attachment to their specimens. In recent years, however, this dis- 
cussion has been very restricted. In part this is due to greater specialis- 
ation, whereby only one or two people at most may feel qualified to com- 
ment upon a particular genus. There is, however, a regrettable tendency 
for contributors to be afraid of criticism, with the result that plants are 
withheld unless their identification is already certain. This is a pitj^ ; 
a measure of the interest of a specimen is the amount of discussion it 
provokes, and plants which have defied determination or are ‘'ofl' type” 
can be entered under a provisional name. 
Both specialists and non-specialising botani.sts can mutually benefit 
from the exchange. The specialist is in a unique position to contribute, 
as he has access to supplies of critical plants which he can distribute 
as authentic. They may be in his favourite collecting-ground, which he 
knows from experience to be a reliable source of the plants he is study- 
ing, or they may be in his garden where he grows specimens for obser- 
vation. When a specialist has in cultivation plenty of an otherwise 
rare or inaccessible plant, he not oidy can but should distribute material 
from it, and the Exchange Section is an excellent medium for doing so. 
He should also wherever possible send out material to illustrate his 
botanical publications or current work, and anyone writing a paper for 
Watsonia should consider whether they can send any relevant material 
for distribution. 
In return the specialist may ask the Distributor for specimens of the 
group in which he is interested. This may give him a somewhat unequal 
return, although the element of luck is considerable. But, if he prefers, 
he may nominate a public herbarium with which he is connected to 
