A SEARCH FOR RUBBER IN TEXAS 



By J. N. ROSE, 

 Associate Curator, Dk'isioii of Phiiits, U. S. Natio)iaI Miiscinii 



To learn whether any of the native plants of central and southern 

 Texas might be of value as a source of rubber, I visited that region 

 in October, 1927, under the auspices of Mr. Thomas A. Edison. 

 Inasmuch as the United States Department of Agriculture is also 

 greatly interested in j^ossible new sources of rubber, Mr. Paul G. 

 Russell was detailed by that Department to accompany me. 



We left Washington October 5 and returned November 1 1. A small 

 automobile was used in the work, enabling us to cover a much wider 

 territory than would otherwise have been possible. We began work 

 at Austin, Texas, making the University of Texas our headquarters, 

 from which, under the direction of Prof. B. C. Tharp and his col- 

 leagues, we thoroughly explored that region. One day was spent in 

 studying the interesting flora of the Edwards Plateau, and on another 

 day we visited the new site of the University's botanical garden, 

 which includes 500 acres lying on both sides of the Colorado River. 

 This area is very suitable for a botanical garden, for the land is exceed- 

 ingly diverse, consisting of high river bluffs, tree-covered knolls, deep 

 canyons, and wooded flats. It supports a rich native flora and, when 

 improved with good roads, will be one of the most interesting localities 

 in all central Texas. 



After a week at Austin we motored south through New Braunfels, 

 the site of an old German colony and the home of two remarkable 

 botanical collectors. Dr. E. Roemer and Dr. E. Lindheimer. The latter 

 made very large collections in this region and sent the specimens to 

 his countryman, George Engelmann, then a physician in St. Louis 

 and an enthusiastic student of plants. Later, Engelmann published in 

 the Boston Journal of Natural History an important paper entitled, 

 " Plantae Lindheimerianae," based on Lindheimer's collections and 

 containing descriptions of many new and rare plants. A common 

 cactus, Opitiifia liiidliciiiicrii, perhaps the commonest species of this 

 family in the United States, is abundant al)out New Braunfels and 

 was traced by us as far south as Brownsville. 



