REPORT. 



To the Honorable the Board of Regents of the University of the State 

 of New York: 



Gentlemen — The work of the year now past has been devoted to the 

 poisoning, mounting and labeling of specimens of plants, to their collec- 

 tion, and in some instances to figuring them, in order to preserve as 

 completely as possible the appearance and characters of the fresh grow- 

 ing plant, or to present to the eye at a glance the minute microscopic 

 details and spore characters. Aid has also been rendered to several cor- 

 respondents by identifying for them specimens of plants sent for that 

 purpose, a work whereby knowledge is disseminated and the advantages 

 of the herbarium are distributed and in a measure rendered available 

 to those even who are not able personally to consult it. Attention has 

 also been given to the examination of diseased specimens of cultivated 

 plants, which have been sent for that purpose, in order that the cause 

 of the affection might, if possible, be ascertained. Some time has also 

 been spent in revising a part of the collection of fungi in the herbar- 

 ium, the necessity for which is hereinafter set forth. 



Specimens of one hundred and forty-nine species of plants have been 

 mounted an J added to the herbarium of the State Museum of Natural 

 History, forty-four of which were not previously represented therein. 

 The specimens of the remaining one hundred and five species serve to 

 improve or render more complete the representation of the species 01 

 exhibit some form or variety of the plant not previously shown. The 

 mounted specimens include both collected and contributed ones. A 

 list of their specific names accompanies this report and is marked 

 (A). A list of the names of contributors and of the species repre- 

 sented by their respective contributors is marked (B). 



The operation of che Executive veto of the appropriation for the ex- 

 penses of the Botanist in the year 1882 extended over a considerable 

 part of the past year, consequently but little collecting could be done. 

 The appropriation made for this purpose at the last session of the 

 Legislature^was not available until October first, the beginning of the 

 present fiscal year, and then the season for field work had nearly 

 closed. But a part of the summer was so favorable to the production 

 of Agarici and other fleshy fungi that I was unwilling to let so good 

 an opportunity pass unimproved. Accordingly I collected what I 

 could in the counties of Albany and Eensselaer without incurring a 

 greater expense than I was able and willing to bear out of my own 

 pocket. The result was the collection of specimens of more than a 

 hundred species of fungi, of which thirty-two are new to our State 

 and several are new to science. The descriptions of the new species 



