Een vruchtbaar terrein van studie

It is noted with some surprise that in none of the well-known floras of the Netherlands and in general of the floras of Europe and North America, the times of fruiting of the plants are regularly indicated. Knowledge of fruits in general seems to be in a backward state as compared with the attention paid to flowers and their biology. It is remarkable that sometimes chromosome numbers are recorded while such easily observable data as fruiting time are neglected. This omission limits the usefulness of floras, if fruits are wanted for identification, demonstration, or propagation, and if times are to be set for weed control. If flowering and fruiting occur in markedly different periods, the fruiting stage seems seriously under-represented in herbaria. Since amateurs could make a great number of original and very valuable scientific contributions in this field, this subject is recommended to their attention.