PREFACE 
The following number of the Contributions contains 11 short papers 
upon new or noteworthy plants. Of these the first 10, one by N. L. 
Britton and J. N. Rose, the others by J. N. Rose, relate to North Amer- 
ican plants, chiefly Cactaceae and Crassulaceae from desert regions. 
The last paper, by William R. Maxon, contains the description of a 
new fern from China. This species was found in the Henry collection 
of Chinese plants, a set of which is in the National Herbarium. 
FrepertcK V. Covri1e, 
Curator of the United States National Herbarium. 
III 
