Professor Underwood's relation to the work of the New York 



Botanical Garden* 



Nathaniel Lord Britton 



Through his appointment as professor of botany in Columbia 

 University, Professor Underwood became by virtue of this office a 

 member of the Board of Scientific Directors of the New York 

 Botanical Garden in 1896. He has thus been a member of the 

 Board of Managers of the Garden throughout its entire period of 

 development. He has been fertile in advice and suggestion con- 

 cerning all the educational and research work of the institution, 

 and has been indefatigable in the building up of its collections,' 

 especially the museum and herbarium series of cryptogamic plants. 

 The voluntary curatorial work on the collections of ferns and 

 fungi accomplished by him has been of unusual value owin? to 

 nis intimate knovvlege of these groups, and students under his 

 direction have greatly increased the value of the cryptogamic 

 collections, both by the addition of specimens and by the critical 

 determination of collections already secured. He kept the Gar- 

 den in touch with students of ferns all over the world, and it will 

 be long before the institution has the advantage of the presence ot 

 an authority such as Professor Underwood on ferns and fern 

 allies, his chosen field. 



A he herbarium collections accumulated by Professor Under- 

 wood during his busy life are already in part the property of the 

 ard en, he having presented all his flowering plants, and his 

 Ptendophytes and Hepaticae having been purchased, the latter 

 g bought in 1907. His collections of fungi and of mosses are 

 at Columbia University. 



In recognition of Professor Underwood's services to the 



ren and °f his contributions to botanical science, the Board 



anagers have resolved to designate the entire fern herbarium 



the Gar den " The Underwood Fern Herbarium," and to place 



— __able tablet on one of the cases containing these collections. 



* 



e ad at a memorial meeting of the Torrey Botanical Club, January 29, 1908. 



39 



