230 MAGUIRE 



has actively conducted floristic and field studies. Chiefly involved in the field 

 have been G. H. H. Tate, and Bassett Maguire and J. J. Wurdack and their 

 associates. The work of the program will be discussed later in this paper. 



British Guiana. Aublet's botanical activity in French Guiana during the 

 years 1762-1764 (Histoire des plantes de la Guiane Frangoise, 1775, J. B. C. 

 Fusee Aublet) may be considered the effective starting point for botany in 

 the Guiana coastal region. Two fairly good sets of Aublet's plants are still in 

 existence, the fuller set at the British Museum, a complementary one at Paris. 



In British Guiana, among the early important collectors were Robert 

 Schomburgk (1835-1843) and Richard Schomburgk (1840-1844), whose 

 collections of nearly 2500 numbers were, for the most part, studied by 

 Bentham; C. F. Appun; E. F. im Thurn; F. N. McConnell and J. S. Quelch; 

 all of whose collections were made on and in the vicinity of Mount Roraima, 

 the original materials of which are at Kew. 



More recently George S. Jenman, from 1903 to 1929 Government Botanist 

 at Georgetown, conducted extensive explorations in British Guiana and col- 

 lected on the Kaieteur Escarpment, obtaining altogether more than 5000 

 numbers which are widely distributed in the herbaria of the world. The original 

 set is at Kew. 



R. A. Altson, Assistant Government Botanist and mycologist from 1923 to 

 1927, made two excursions into the Pakaraima region. His collections are 

 chiefly in the Jenman Herbarium at Georgetown and at Kew. 



H. A. Gleason made important collections (940 numbers) in the Potaro 

 River Gorge in 1934. His specimens are at New York. De la Cruz, employed 

 by Dr. Gleason, independently made collections of some 3000 numbers. 



N. Y. Sandwith in 1929 and again in 1937 collected in the region of the 

 Moraballi Creek and the Kaieteur Plateau. The first set of his collections of 

 more than 1300 numbers is at Kew. 



In 1920 A. S. Hitchcock made general collections (about 1250 numbers) 

 with chief emphasis on the grass flora. These specimens are at Washington 

 and New York. 



From about 1930 to the present time, various members of the Forest De- 

 partment at Georgetown have made collections, in various parts of British 

 Guiana, which now total more than 7000, the first set of which was submitted 

 to Kew. The chief duplicate set is at New York. T. A. W. Davis from 1932 

 to 1936, followed by D. B. Fanshawe, who served in the colony for fourteen 

 years and became the principal student and collector of its flora, have made 

 an outstanding contribution to the knowledge of botany in British Guiana. 



In 1933 T. G, Tutin, on behalf of the Oxford Expedition, made collections 

 on the Kaieteur Plateau, the first set deposited at the British Museum. 



A. C. Smith in 1937-1938 obtained more than 1600 numbers as a member 

 of the Terry-Holden expedition to the Kanuku and Akarai Mountains, the 

 original material being at New York, 



