THE PHILIPPINE PLANTS COLLECTED BY THE WILKES 

 UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



By Elmer D. Merrill. 



{From the Botanical Section. Bioloyicul Laboratory, Bureau of Science, 



Manila, P. I.) 



Volumes 15. IG, and 17 of the reports of the AVilkes L'i'nited States 

 Exploring Expedition deal with l)otany, the two first published in 

 1854 and the last from 1859 to 1874. The first of these by Asa Gray, 

 entitled "Botany, Phanerogamia, Vol. 1" (volume 15 of the whole), 

 consisting of 717 pages of text, quarto, and a folio atlas of 100 plates, 

 and considering the Howering plants from RanuncuJacca' to Lorantltacew, 

 is the one treated of in detail in the following paper, although in this in- 

 troduction it has been considered advisable to include some notice of the 

 other two volumes dealing with the vascular and cellular cryptogams, so 

 far as they apply to the Philippines. 



Volume 16, entitled "Botany, Cryptogamia, Filices including Lycopo- 

 diaceae and Hydropterides," by William D. Brackenridge, was published 

 in 1854, consisting of viii -|- 357 pages, quarto, and a folio atlas of 46 

 plates. In this work seventy-seven species of Pliilippine ferns are 

 enumerated, of which fifteen were described as new. Most of the speci- 

 mens on which this list was based are to be found in the United States 

 National Herbarium. From tlie "Letters of Asa Gray" published in 

 1893, some information is obtainable ]-egarding this very rare work. On 

 pages 404 and 405 we learn that Dr. Gray edited Brackenridge's 

 manuscript, and read the proofs of the work, and on page 432 we further 

 Jearn that "a fire in Philadelphia consumed all tlie edition except ten 

 copies which has been sold mostly in Europe'" and that "the Government 

 lost a part of their small impression." As a consequence of this disaster 

 the work is very rare, but Mr. W. E. Maxon of the United States National 

 Herbarium informs me that partial or complete copies of the work are 

 to be found in many of the State libraries in the United States, these 

 presumabl}' originating from the distrilmtion of tliat part of the Gov- 

 ernment's quota which escaped the fire. 



Volume 17 consists of several papers published at various times, the 

 first few consider the vascular cryptogams, while the last l)y John 

 Torrey, entitled "Phanerogamia of the Pacific Coast of North America," 



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