REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914. Ill 



Mr. Frederick V. Coville, the curator of the division, continued 

 his studies of the genus Vaccinium. Mr. William R. Maxon, associ- 

 ate curator, made considerable progress with his " Studies of tropical 

 American ferns," and, in addition to two shorter articles, published 

 a fifth paper under the above title. Copy for No. 6 of this series 

 is now ready for the press. Mr. Paul C. Standley, assistant curator, 

 continued his researches on Panama plants, especially of the familj'' 

 Rubiaceae, and began the preparation of a manuscript treating of 

 the families Chenopodiaceae and Amaranthaceae of the North Amer- 

 ican flora. He plans also to publish a series of papers embodying 

 the miscellaneous results of his work under the title, " Studies of 

 tropical American phanerogams," of which part 1 appeared during 

 the year. "The flora of New Mexico," prepared jointly with Mr. 

 E. O. Wooton, of the Department of Agriculture, has been sub- 

 mitted for publication in its revised form and will constitute volume 

 19 of the Contributions from the National Herbarium. Mr. E. S. 

 Steele devoted to the study of the genus Laciniaria such time as 

 was not required for his editorial duties. 



Dr. J. N. Rose, associate in botany, proceeded Avith his researches 

 on the family Cactaceae under the auspices of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion of Washington, his furlough from the National Museum having 

 been extended for that purpose. Dr. E. L. Greene, associate in bot- 

 any, has been engaged on part 2 of " Botanical Landmarks," and, in 

 addition, was the author of two short papers on various species of 

 American plants. Capt. John Donnell Smith, associate in botany, 

 continued his investigations of previous years on the flora of Central 

 America and published several papers describing new species from 

 that region. 



Among the botanists who worked in the herbarium for longer or 

 shorter periods were Dr. C. H. Ostenfeld, of the Botanical Museum 

 in Copenhagen, Denmark; Dr. N. L. Britton, director of the New 

 York Botanical Garden, and Dr. P. A. Rydberg and Dr. J. K. Small, 

 of the same institution ; Prof. H. M. Hall and Mrs. Katherine Bran- 

 degee, of the University of California; Prof. Aven Nelson, of the 

 University of Wyoming; Prof. Ezra Brainerd, of Middlebury Col- 

 lege ; and Prof. William Trelease, of the University of Illinois. The 

 herbarium was also, as usual, constantly made use of by the botanists 

 of the Department of Agriculture. 



The number of specimens lent to institutions and individuals for 

 study was above the average. Much of the material thus sent out 

 was undetermined, and the Museum therefore became the chief, if 

 not the only, beneficiary in many of the transactions. The principal 

 shipments were as follows : A large number of plants of many groups 

 to the New York Botanical Garden ; numerous specimens from Cen- 

 tral America to Capt. John Donnell Smith, of Baltimore, Md. ; fungi 



