24 



The two photographs were made by Dr. B. O. Dodge, of Colum- 

 bia University, and Miss Bernice Replogle of Bur Oak, Michigan. 



Teachers College, 



Columbia University 



RUSTS OF THE WEST INDIES^ 



By J. C. Arthur 



The rusts of the West Indies are not well known, and the 

 present discussion can do no more than call attention to a few 

 salient features regarding their kind, number and distribution. 

 The first attempt at a collective account of the West Indian 

 rust flora was made only a year or so ago, when the rich Porto 

 Rican material collected by Professor F. L. Stevens in 1913-15 

 was studied.^ This list gave 155 species for all the West Indies, 

 only 20 of which were not known from Porto Rico. Had a list 

 been compiled before this material was available it would have' 

 numbered less than 100 species, of which over half would have 

 been recorded for Porto Rico, about half for Cuba, somewhat 

 less than half for Jamaica, less than one fifth for the Bahamas, 

 and still fewer for the Lesser Antilles and other small islands. 



During tvvo months in the early part of the present year 

 (1916) the second extensive search for rusts in Porto Rico was 

 made by Prof. H. H. Whetzel and Dr. E. W. Olive, which added 

 20 species to those already known for the island, and 17 species 

 to the W^est Indian list, bringing the total up to 174. 



In the meantime Mr. J. R. Johnston of the Experiment Station 

 of Cuba has been searching for rusts in central and eastern Cuba, 

 and Mr. Percy Wilson, of the New York Botanical Garden, has 

 taken many rusts in western Cuba, especially in the Isle of Pines. 

 The study of the rich material from these two sources, with 

 addition of other scattering collections, shows a present rust 

 flora for Cuba of 136 species, among which are found an addition 



1 Read before the Botanical Society of America at the New York meeting, 

 Dec. 29, 1916. 



2 Arthur, J. C. — Uredinales of Porto Rico based on collections by F. L. Stevens. 

 Mycol. 7: 168-196, 227-255, 315-332; 8: 16-33. 1915-16. 



