2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I26 



in public health through the researches of Father Raulino Reitz and 

 Dr. Henrique Pimenta Veloso. 



The Fosters have traveled widely in search of striking bromeliads 

 but have made their greatest efforts in the rain forest area of extreme 

 eastern Brazil, the home of the great majority of the ornamental 

 species. I gratefully acknowledge that they have not forgotten to 

 collect the lowly "botanicals" or nonglamorous types at the same time. 

 Also they have the rewarding system of collecting sterile plants, 

 which on blooming years later often prove to be species of exceptional 

 interest. While the general collector frequently neglects or ignores 

 bromeliads because of the great difficulty of collecting and preserving 

 them, the Fosters have concentrated on them to the practical exclusion 

 of all other families. As a result more than half of the new species 

 described since 1935 have been based upon their collections. 



Reitz and Veloso have concentrated their efforts on the bromeliads 

 of Santa Catarina in connection with the campaign undertaken in 

 recent years by the Servigo Nacional de Malaria. Although Reitz 

 has discovered a number of new species, he has made a much more 

 important contribution to our knowledge of the variation and distribu- 

 tion of species already known. In fact, he has changed the status of 

 the bromeliad flora there from the least known in the eastern rain 

 forest to equality with the best. Veloso, using Reitz's taxonomic 

 studies as a base, has given us a detailed picture of the ecology of 

 the Santa Catarina bromeliads (Anais Botanicos do Herbario "Bar- 

 bosa Rodrigues": 187-270. 1952) which has yet to be approached 

 elsewhere. 



Mez saw the Bromeliaceae in practically all the important European 

 herbaria and from near chaos erected a detailed and logical system. 

 However, he noted little from this side of the Atlantic beyond citing 

 my early papers, and, as these dealt chiefly with non-Brazilian brome- 

 liads, he missed not only most of the novelties but also the rich distri- 

 butional data in United States and Brazilian herbaria. 



For the past 25 years, thanks to Dr. F. C. Hoehne, former director 

 of the Instituto de Botanica in Sao Paulo, I have enjoyed every 

 advantage of its ample herbarium, from a constant supply of speci- 

 mens to lavish facilities for publishing and illustrating the results of 

 my studies. Nor should I forget the field experience gained at Alto 

 da Serra and Moyses Kuhlmann's original technique for collecting 

 epiphytes. 



To Dr. P. Campos Porto, director of the Jardim Botanico do Rio 

 de Janeiro, I am indebted not only for the opportunity to study in 

 the garden and herbarium but also for the hospitality that enabled me 



