REPORT OF THE BOTANIST. 



S. B. Woolworth, LL. D., Secretary of the Board of Regents of the Uni- 

 versity : 



Sir — Since the date of my last report, specimens of two hundred and thir- 

 teen species of plants have been mounted and placed in the Herbarium, of 

 which one hundred and forty-six were not before represented therein. A list of 

 these is marked (1). 



Specimens have been collected in the counties of Albany, Hamilton, Mont- 

 gomery, Onondaga, Oswego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schoharie and Ulster. 

 These represent one hundred and sixty-six species new to the Herbarium, one 

 hundred and sixty-two of which are fungi. Of these seventy-five are regarded 

 as new or previously undescribed species. A list of plants collected is marked (2). 



Specimens of fourteen New York species, new to the Herbarium, and not 

 among my collections of the past season, have been furnished by correspondents. 

 These, added to those collected, make the whole number of additions one hun- 

 dred and eighty. There are, besides, a considerable number of extra-limital 

 contributions. A list of the contributors and their contributions is marked (3). 



New species, with their descriptions, and previously unreported species, are 

 given in a section marked (4). 



New stations of rare plants, remarks and observations are given in a section 

 marked (5). 



The general fruitfulness of the past season extended to the domain of fungi. 

 Toward the end of summer the frequent showers and warm weather brought out 

 these lowly plants in great abundance. In some localities species of Lycoper- 

 don, commonly known as " Puff-balls," were very plentiful. One correspond- 

 ent, in speaking of the Engraved puff-ball, L. cailatum., and the Cup-shaped 

 puff-ball, L. cyathiforme, says : " Of these we have freely eaten for several 

 weeks. They are most excellent. Within the limits of our town more than a 

 ton of them rotted on the ground." The number of species of puff-balls now 

 known to inhabit our State is sixteen. The published descriptions of these are 

 scattered and not always accessible. In some instances the descriptions are very 

 imperfect and unsatisfactory, and technical terms are employed in them, which, 

 without explanation, are scarcely intelligible to persons unaccustomed to the 

 language of scientific description. These facts, together with the importance of 

 these fungi as an article of food, and the desirability of bringing them more 

 into public notice and of enabling people generally to recognize the species, if 

 they wish, have induced me to prepare a monograph of our New York species, 

 in which the descriptions have been rewritten and the more technical terms 

 fully explained. Copious remarks have been added to the descriptions, and 

 the principal distinctive features of the species have been specially mentioned. 

 The monograph on the genus Lycoperdon is marked (6). By its aid, it is 

 thought, that any person, whether botanist or not, will be able to identify our 

 species. 



Specimens of puff-balls, when sliced and pressed, as they sometimes are, and 

 mounted on herbarium sheets in the usual manner, lose much of their natural 

 beauty and often have their distinctive specific characters impaired. I have, 

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