92 
species of Claytonia known to grow in northern North America, 
of which three occur in the eastern United States, one of these 
with broader leaves, C. caroliniana Michx., having about the 
same range as C. virginica, from Nova Scotia southward along 
the Alleghanies to Georgia and Tex 
They belong to the Purslane family, or Portulacaceae, with 
which they ea in their fleshy leaves, and flowers that bloom 
for a short time. The family is a large one, but the plants are 
usually small, es of them with showy flowers like Portulaca 
grandiflora, which occasionally escapes from cultivation. 
ELIZABETH G,. BRITTON. 
BOTANICAL EXPLORATION IN ORIENTE, CUBA. 
Dr. N. L. Britton, DrrEcTOR-IN-CHIEF. 
Sir: Embarking from New York November 15, 1910, I arrived 
at Antilla November 21. Crossing Nipe Bay next morning to 
Preston, there to await the uncertain arrival of the coast-wise 
steamer to Baracoa, which was reached on the evening of Novem- 
ber 25, I soon found myself comfortably installed in the house 
of my good friend and fellow-townsman, Mr. Charles Rees, of the 
Piloto Mining Company. 
Owing to the heavy rains of an unusually late rainy season, 
the trails were all but impassable, and the streams frequently 
unfordable, so that no satisfactory arrangement could be made 
for the establishment of a base on El Yunque, and I concluded it 
would be more practicable to go there afoot with the least equipage 
possible. Leaving Baracoa at noon, accompanied by two stout 
boys, wading Rio Duaba, thence to and up the narrow but very 
fertile valley of Arroyo Henequen, which stream it was necessary 
to cross twenty-one times before reaching the bohio of a tenant on 
Tabajo, we reached the finca of Mr. W. H. Bemis, situated high up 
in the foothills and close to the base of El Yunque. Some collec- 
tions were made along the aforementioned arroyo and in the hills 
before nightfall. As it rained heavily during the night, my host, 
who was also to be my guide, informed me next morning that it 
