“ We are also discovering that many American and European plants formerly supposed to belong to the same species are really distinct. This is all the more apparent when we can add to herbarium and historical study, the actual observation of plants afield in both countries. The broad idea of species is rapidly passing away with the more exact study of a wide range of material. ”
Quotes from The Fern Bulletin ()
“ In conclusion it is a pleasure to note the fact that Alphonso Wood is thus tardily recognized by a New Englander as a “good botanist” — a condition strangely in contrast with the treatment he received throughout his life from his contemporaries in the same region. It gives some of the rest of us reason to hope that even in things botanical “after death comes the judgment.” ”
“ Combined with these has been the strong tendency to include a wide range of variations under a single specific description, or, to quote the favorite expression of the veteran English fern student, to treat “species in their broad sense.” Study in recent years and, particularly, close examination of the meager facilities for rational judgment on which some of these European “authorities” have based their conclusions have led to the abandonment of many positions formerly held. ”
