question: public static AnnotationMirror findEffectiveAnnotationInHierarchy ( final QualifierHierarchy qualifierHierarchy , final AnnotatedTypeMirror toSearch , final AnnotationMirror top ) { return findEffectiveAnnotationInHierarchy ( qualifierHierarchy , toSearch , top , false ) ; }
target:  When comparing types against the bounds of a type variable, we may encounter other type variables, wildcards, and intersections in those bounds.  This method traverses the bounds until it finds a concrete type from which it can pull an annotation.