REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST FOR 1 92 1 7 



publication of 48.5 per cent of all the botanical literature dealing with 

 the botany and plant life of the State. 



It is also worth noting that nearly 39 per cent of all this literature 

 was produced by one man, the late Doctor Peck, former State 

 Botanist, between 1867 and 1912, with less than 5 per cent of con- 

 tributed matter and with the aid of an assistant during only a few 

 years. 



This brief review does not take into account any comparison of 

 illustrations or plates, although the record indicates that over 80 

 per cent of the plates, illustrative of the plant life of the State, 

 have been published under the supervision of the Regents and the 

 State Education Department. 



Investigations of a cooperative nature have been carried on with 

 Prof. John Dearness of London, Canada, upon certain parasitic and 

 saprophytic forms of fungi. The results of these investigations are 

 presented in another part of this report as a joint paper. Exten- 

 sive collections of seed of the evening primrose ( Oenothera 

 biennis L.) were secured from several sections of the State and 

 submitted to Dr H. H. Bartlett, director of the botanic gardens, 

 University of Michigan, where the seeds are being grown and a study 

 made of the various mutants which may result. 



Noteworthy contributions. The chief additions to the state 

 herbarium during the year in the form of contributions and 

 exchanges, are presented in the following list of contributors, which 

 indicates the number of specimens received from each. 



The most important contribution was the herbarium of the late 



F. E. Fenno, of Earlville, donated by Mrs Fenno, acknowledged 



in the preceding report, but only arranged and added to the 



herbarium during the past year. Mr Fenno had for many years, 



in addition to his duties as a teacher and school principal in the 



schools of this State, devoted much of his spare time to the study 



of botany, and has contributed valuable papers for publication upon 



the plant life of the Upper Susquehanna valley (State Museum 



Bulletins 67, 75, and 217-218). His untimely death by drowning 



early in 1920 is a distinct loss to the large group of amateur botanists 



in this State. 



Contributions to the State Herbarium 



New York Botanical Garden (exchange) 415 



Ira Clokey, State Museum, Denver, Col. (exchange) 354 



J. C. Nelson, Salem, Ore. (exchange) 310 



Percy Wilson, New York, (exchange) 180 



J. M. Grant, Langeley, Wash, (exchange) 100 



Miss Helen LaForce, Deland, Fla 80 



M. S. Baxter, Rochester 76 



Dr A. H. W. Povah, Syracuse (exchange) 55 



