﻿54 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 78 



With Doctor Rolfs and his daughter, Mrs. Chase visited Serra da 

 Gramma, and with ^liss Rolfs, Serra do Caparao, high mountains 

 in the eastern part of the State. Pico da Bandeira, the culminating 

 point of Serra do Caparao, is now said to be the highest point in 

 Brazil, 2,884 meters. Owing to bad weather and a guide who did not 

 know the way, they climbed Pontao Crystal, 2,798 meters high, in- 

 stead of Pico da Bandeira 

 was obtained. 



A large collection of interesting grasses 



Fig. 57. — Dr. Rolfs, Mrs. Chase, and outfit in the foothills of 



Serra da Gramma. 



A last trip into campo country was made to Campos do Jordao, 

 Sao Paulo, a region of high grassy hills divided by ravines full of 

 A raucaria brasilioisis. 



BOTANICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT EUROPEAN MUSEUMS 



The growing interest in the botany of South America and the 

 dispatch of several expeditions from this country to little-known 

 parts of that continent in recent years have resulted in the accumula- 

 tion of a large amount of unidentified material. In general, the work 

 of naming these specimens is made difficult by the fact that a great 

 proportion of the species peculiar to South America are known to 

 botanists of this country only by description, the original specimens 

 being deposited in European herbaria. Obviously, therefore, it is 

 important that the new material be compared with specimens in Euro- 

 pean collections, and that the original types be sketched or photo- 



