3 
of the area of the barrigona palm (Colpothrinay Wright), con- 
spicuous for the marked enlargement of the trunk near the 
middle. It was this feature that gave the palm its name, barri- 
known locally, to “Americanos,” as the “barrel palm,” possibly 
because of its shape, but more probably because the swollen 
portion of the trunk is much in use by the Cubano guajiros as 
a water barrel. In rare instances this trunk is utilized for porch 
pillars in the building of dwellings. 
This being the rainy season, we found many species in flower 
that would not be blooming at other months, and we easily made 
fifty to seventy-five collection numbers a day, including living 
plants for the conservatories, dried specimens for the herbarium, 
and material for museum and laboratory purposes preserved in 
formalin. 
On the 31st of August we drove to San Diego de los Banos, 
the seat of one of the oldest and most famous watering places o1 
the island, and from here as a base, made journeys on foot and 
horseback into the surrounding valleys and mountains. 
We returned to Herradura on September 3, and on Septem- 
ber 5 proceeded thence westward, by train, to the City of Pinar 
del Rio, in the center of the Vuelta Abajo, the most famous 
tobacco region of the world. With this city as a base, we spent 
several days on the savannas, pine barrens, and lagunas lying 
between the city and the south shore of the island. One day we 
spent along the coast of the Caribbean Sea, at Coloma, the port 
of Pinar del Rio. These savannas and lagunas were rich in 
variety of specimens, including the sundews (Drosera), the 
yellow-flowered bladderworts (Utricularia), the water-hyacinth 
(Piaropus crassipes), numerous grasses and sedges, shrubs, and 
young scattered saplings of the West Indian pine. Most of the 
larger trees in the province have been cut down and the wood 
used for making charcoal. 
On the twelfth of September we transferred our base to 
Bafos San Vicente, in the Sierra del Rosario, approximately 
midway between Pinar del Rio and the north coast. Between 
Pinar del Rio and San Vicente lies the village of Vinales, nest- 
ling in a vale of surpassing beauty. The range of mountains, of 
