12 



prickly petioles recorded by Grisebach as Copernicia tectoriim. 

 This also was unsuccessful, though plenty of the silver-thatch 

 palm was found at Ackendown. One of the special features of 

 the trip was a drive to Lacovia, where through the courtesy of 

 Mr. H. M. Farquharson fine specimens of a N eliimbium with 

 yellow flowers were obtained. It is supposed to be the same as 

 N. lutenm, our wild yellow lotus of the United States, but its 

 seeds are pointed at both ends, instead of round, and it has been 

 called N. jamaicense DC. It was formerly more abundant than 

 it is now, having been reported from several other stations on the 

 island. Two trips also were made by boat up Black River, where 

 several interesting trees and vines were found. The lowlands of 

 this part of the island are filled with morasses and one unusual 

 palm was obtainable only by wading in and sending a boy up for 

 the leaves and fruit. 



The last week of our stay was spent at New Market in the 

 hills of Westmoreland, where the climate is more humid, fogs 

 are frequent at night, and the mosses and ferns, in consequence, 

 are more abundant. The road leading to Montego Bay was 

 traversed twice and yielded an interesting epiphytic cactus of the 

 genus Rhipsalis and one of the Gesneriaceae. Another visit 

 during the winter would give a still richer harvest as the rainy 

 season was beginning when we were there, making collecting and 

 drying of plants a difficult matter. The region around Blue- 

 fields, also, where Gosse collected so many of the birds of 

 Jamaica would repay further exploration. 



We had intended to spend a week at the eastern end of the 

 island, but having read Inspector Thomas's account of it in " Un- 

 trodden Jamaica" and learning from the government engineers 

 that it rains three hundred days of the year and the other sixty- 

 five it pours in the John Crow Mountains, which are known as 

 the "Watering Pot of Jamaica," we concluded that it would be 

 better to postpone our trip to them till we were specially pre- 

 pared and await a more favorable season. 



Altogether about 2,000 specimens were secured for the New 

 York Botanical Garden. 



Nkw York Botanical Garden. 



