Such a list would also serve to illustrate the second point since the
same names would recur frequently. Long lists of varieties are called
alba, or inermis, or canescens or lutea, and many genera contain the
same appellations. In some instances the systematists use a diversity of
names to convey exactly the same idea, as if to conceal the monotony of
the character, as for instance in the case of the lack of hairs, which
is expressed by the varietal names of _Papaver dubium glabrum_, _Arabis
ciliata glabrata_, _Arabis hirsuta glaberrima_, _Veronica spicata
nitens_, _Amygdalus persica laevis_, _Paeonia corallina Leiocarpa_, &c.
On the contrary we find elementary species in different genera based on
the greatest possible diversity of features. The forms of _Taraxacum_ or
_Helianthemum_ do not repeat those of _Draba_ or _Viola_. In roses and
brambles the distinguishing features are characteristic of the type, as
[127] they are evidently derived from it and limited to it. And this is
so true that nobody claims the grade of elementary species for white
roses or white brambles, but everyone recognizes that forms diverging
from the nearest species by a single character only, are to be regarded
as varieties.
This general conviction is the basis on which we may build up a more
sharply defined distinction between elementary species and varieties.
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