REPORT OF THE BOTANIST. 



To the Honorable the Board of Hegents of the University of the 

 State of New York: 



Gentlemen — I have the honor of communicating to yon the 

 following statement of the work of tlie Botanist for 1885 : 



In the prosecution of the w^ork on the State Herbarium, specimens 

 of plants have been collected in the counties of Albany, Essex, 

 Genesee, Herkimer, Orange, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schoharie, and 

 Ulster. Of the collected specimens, those representing one hundred 

 and ninety-eight species have been prepared, mounted and added to 

 the Herbarium. Of these, one hundred and fourteen species were 

 not before represented therein. The remaining eighty-four species 

 are illustrated more completely and satisfactorily by the added 

 specimens. 



Specimens have been received from nineteen contributors. A 

 large number of these represent extra-limital species of fungi, but 

 among those from this State are six species new to the Herbarium, 

 and not among my collections of the past season. The whole num- 

 ber of added species, both collected and contributed, is tw^o hundred 

 and ten ; the whole number new to the Herbarium is one hundred 

 and twenty. A list of the names of the added species is marked 

 (A). A list of the names of the contributors and their respective 

 contributions is marked (B). 



Descriptions of forty-two species of fungi, which are deemed new 

 or hitherto unpublished, have been prepared. A part of these have 

 been illustrated by two plates of drawings. The descriptions of new 

 species, together with a record of the occurrence and locality of 

 others new to our flora, are in a part of the report marked (C). 



A record of observations on common or well-known species not 

 new to our flora is marked (D). It has reference to any thing 

 peculiar, interesting, or instructive in the variation, distribution, 

 behavior or habitat of the plant. Sometimes useful hints may 

 be obtained by such observations. For example, a variety of the 

 common blueberry, Yacciniurrh Pennsylvanicum, was noticed on 

 the summit of one of the mountains in the northern part of Saratoga 

 count3^ Its fruit was black and shining, destitute of bloom, very 

 large, sweet, juicy and pleasant flavored. It grew in compact 

 clusters at the ends of the branches, and could be easily and rapidly 

 picked. Such a susceptibility to variation and improvement in the 

 fruit of this plant, in its natural and wild condition, indicates for it 

 a peculiar value and a possibility of usefulness under cultivation and 

 domestication. 



