PREFACE. 



The accompanying paper by A. S. Hitchcock, Systematic Agros- 

 tologist of the United States Department of Agriculture, and Agnes 

 Chase, Assistant Agrostologist, brings together in a single convenient 

 publication our knowledge of the grass flora of the West Indian 

 Islands. Though some of the earliest collections of plants sent from 

 America to Europe came from the West Indies, and though the flora 

 of this region has since been studied by many botanists, no account 

 of the grasses of the whole region has hitherto been published. The 

 present paper is based upon large collections from practically all the 

 islands of the group and upon field studies by both authors. It 

 includes 110 genera and 455 species, of which one genus and 17 species 

 are new. The new genus, Saugetia, is named in honor of Brother 

 Leon, Joseph Sylvestre Sauget, of the Colegio de La Salle, Habana, 

 one of the most active of Cuban botanists. 



The brief descriptions, giving the salient characteristics of the 

 species and genera, are intended to supplement the keys and confirm 

 identifications. To facilitate the use of the work as a manual the 

 detailed citation of specimens under each species is omitted. Ap- 

 pended to the paper, however, is a list of all the numbered specimens 

 of West Indian grasses in the United States National Herbarium. 



Frederick V. Coville, 

 Curator of the United States National Herbarhim. 



