104 Alaskan Science Conference 



ment, the most active and extensive botanical researches are 

 being made under the auspices of the Alaska Terrain and 

 Permafrost Section of the U. S. Geological Survey, as an essen- 

 tial part of a large and important investigation of Pleistocene 

 and post-Pleistocene geological phenomena in Alaska. In this 

 Section, the work of botanists and geologists is being integrated 

 in a wholly admirable manner. Unfortunately for science, how- 

 ever, no single agency has been authorized— or given funds— 

 to bring together the vastly important botanical knowledge 

 about Alaska already in existence or to proceed with an in- 

 tegrated research program on a large scale. In truth, most 

 botanical research in Alaska or on Alaskan materials has been 

 carried on under other sponsorship than that of our govern- 

 ment, and has depended in large part on the financial resources 

 of universities, of philanthropic foundations, and even of indi- 

 viduals. In the summer of 1899, Mr. Edward H. Harriman put 

 a party of 25 scientists in the field in Alaska at his own expense, 

 and the extensive reports of the extremely successful Harriman 

 Alaska Expedition, published by the Smithsonian Institution, 

 are familiar to all of us. It is a misfortune for us that the two 

 volumes reserved for an account of the flowering plants have 

 never been published, although it is rumored that the manu- 

 script was completed. The important recent publications of 

 the distinguished Swedish botanist, Dr. Eric Hulten ("Flora 

 of the Aleutian Islands" (1937) and his still incomplete "Flora 

 of Alaska and Yukon," appearing in sections since 1941 (in 

 Lunds Universitets Arsskrift) serve to fill this gap. The fact 

 that Hulten's field explorations were financed from Sweden 

 and that his publications appeared there, although in English, 

 is a further direct reflection of the lack of official interest in this 

 country in the botany of Alaska. These remarks should not be 

 interpreted as being at all chauvinistic in intent, since it is per- 

 fectly obvious that a Canadian or Scandinavian botanist will 

 naturally be more familiar with the northern flora than most 

 Americans. However, for simple reasons of convenience and 

 availability, it would be desirable to have fundamental works of 

 this sort published on this side of the Atlantic. Fortunately for 



