DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY. 149 



Department of Botany. 



During the past year 28,340 plants, consisting of 12, .31 5 

 flowering plants, 471 vascular cryptogams, 2,297 Muscinese, 

 5,656 Algae, 6,876 Fungi, and 725 Lichens have been mounted 

 and incorporated into the Herbarium. 



In the progress of the work the officers of the Department 

 and others have been occupied as follows : — 



Mr. Baker's v/ork in the general Herbarium has been chiefly 

 connected with Indian Leguminosse ; additions have also been 

 made to other portions of the Polyijetalce, and these include 

 plants from South Africa collected by Dr. Wilms and E. 

 Schlechter ; from Arctic Regions by Col. Feilden ; West 

 Tropical Africa by Zenker ; and Mexico by C Pringle. 

 The revision of the Herbarium collection of Cape species 

 of Crassula, by means of comparison with available types 

 (mentioned in last year's report), has been continued. Dr. 

 Schonland, of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, visited 

 England during the year, bringing with him his extensive 

 collection of these plants. In conjunction with this gentle- 

 man a paper was published describing 26 novelties. Some 

 time was spent identifying Gamopetalse collected by Mrs. E. 

 Lort Phillips in Somaliland, several new species were 

 described, and will shortly be published A portion of the 

 Polypetalae collected by Dr. Rand in Rhodesia has been 

 determined ; also the greater part of the Polypetalae 

 collected by Mr. C. W. Andrews on Christmas Island. 



Mr. Britten has incorporated in the general Herbarium 

 various collections of Monopetalse, and has in part revised 

 the orders Ruhiacece and Asclepiaclacece. He has, however, 

 principally been occupied in identifying the drawings of 

 Australian plants prepared under the direction of Sir Joseph 

 Banks with the specimens in the Herbarium, and in critically 

 naming these ; and in identifying and writing up a portion of 

 the Sloane Herbarium as well as the types in the Banksian 

 Herbarium on which the descriptions of Miller, J. E. Smith, 

 Alton, Brown, and others are based. In doing this much im- 

 portant information relating to the history of the Museum 

 collections has accrued, some of which has been published in 

 the papers of which a list is appended. Mr. Britten has 

 also exercised a general supervision over the departmental 

 library. 



Dr. Rendle has been mainly occupied with the preparation 

 of the Catalogue of Dr. Welwitsch's Angolan Monocotyledons. 

 In connexion therewith he has worked through the greater 



