JOURNAL 
OF 
The New York Botanical Garden 
VoL. IV. ; June, 1903. No, 42. 
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR-IN-CHIEF UPON 
EXPLORATION IN CUBA. 
To tHE BoarD oF MANAGERS, 
Gentlemen: By your permission I was absent from the Garden 
for the period between March 5 and April 3, 1903, engaged 
in studying and collecting the flora of west-central Cuba, in the 
provinces of Matanzas and Havana, and in examining the Botan- 
ical Garden of the University of Havana. I was accompanied 
and assisted by Mrs. Britton and by Mr. J. A. Shafer, Custodian 
of Botany at the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburg, Pa. 
On the way south two days were spent at Tampa, Florida, 
where a collection of 160 species of plants was made, represented 
by about 600 herbarium specimens, a number of fruits and other 
products for the museums, and a box of cacti and other living 
plants for the conservatories. Arriving at Havana on March 10, 
a day was spent in searching bookshops, which resulted in the 
purchase of several volumes desired for our library, in a visit to 
the university and to the botanical garden, where many inter- 
esting plants were observed and noted; as this garden was re- 
visited at the close of our trip, I will defef an account of it. 
Proceeding to Matanzas on the 11th, that city was made the base 
of operations for the next two weeks. Matanzas is situated at 
the head of a beautiful bay and at the mouths of two rivers, the 
San Juan and the Yumuri; the San Juan flows through a broad 
and fertile valley for several miles from the bay, but its course 
