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flora, The duplicates obtained will be used in exchange with 
other institutions. The expenses were defrayed by a generous 
contribution from Mr. D. O. Mills, president of the Board of 
Managers of the Garden. 
Respectfully submitted, 
N 
. L. Britton, 
Director-in- Chief. 
THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONS OF FLOWERING 
PLANTS 
The flowering plants of the museum collections fall into two 
distinct divisions, the public exhibit and the herbarium. The 
public exhibit is installed in the east hall and the east wing on 
the second floor of the museum building, except a block and a 
half of cases now standing in the west hall, while the herbarium 
is arranged in the main herbarium.room situated on the top 
floor of the building. 
Two distinct sections constitute the public exhibit : first, the 
Local Flora, a collection of specimens representing the plants 
growing without cultivation within a radius of one hundred miles 
of New York City, is displayed in the swinging frames borne on 
standards placed between the large exhibition cases. Each stand 
displays at least ninety- SIX representatives from the area con- 
In the second section of the public exhibit, called the Synoptic 
Collection, the flowering plants are arranged ona system showing 
their relationship by families, beginning with the more simply 
organized groups and ending with the more highly organized. 
Characteristic specimens represent each plant family. The speci- 
mens are supplemented by plates or drawings which stand beside 
each specimen at the back of the case, while on the shelves in 
front of the plates and specimens are shown objects, mainly parts 
of plants from related species or genera, such as bark, leaves, 
flowers, fruits, woods and fossil remains. 
