Abstract
THIS suggestive little work, coming as it does from the pen of Prof. von Wettstein, will be read with attention by all who are interested in the wider problems of systematic botany. The author contends that a separation of species or sub-species on morphological grounds alone is unsatisfactory, and he reminds his readers that the appreciation of differences by this method must be ultimately a purely subjective one, and that the conclusions arrived at are liable to be vitiated on several grounds. Von Wettstein pleads for a more general recognition of the geographical areas occupied by species, and considers that a careful study of these will eliminate errors due to modifications depending on climatical or other physical conditions; and it is well known how efficient these are in producing races which, though retaining a general resemblance to a common ancestor, may yet be greatly dissimilar amongst themselves.
Grundzuge der geographisch-morphologischen Methode der Pflanzensystematik.
By Dr. R. von Wettstein. Pp. 64. Mit 7 lith. Karten und 4 Abbildungen im text. (Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1898.)
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Grundzuge der geographisch-morphologischen Methode der Pflanzensystematik . Nature 61, 563 (1900). https://doi.org/10.1038/061563b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/061563b0