195 3\ 



BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLAND 



91 



Cambridge University sent an expedition to the Kaieteur Savanna in 1933* 

 T. G. Tutin has reported 11 on the botanical results in which sixteen new species 

 were proposed, N. Y. Sandwith, botanist on the Oxford University Club Expedition 

 to British Guiana in 1929, later visited the Kaieteur Savanna in August and Sep- 

 tember of 1937. Many new species and records have come from his collections. 



In continuation of its program of research on the botany of the Guayana High- 

 land, the New York Botanical Garden organized an expedition to the Kaieteur Es- 

 carpment in 1944. Some twenty days were spent in this famous collecting area by 

 Bassett Maguire in the company and under the guidance of D. B. Fanshawe, British 

 Forest Officer. Later that same year, Maguire 12 proceeded with the exploration of 

 Tafelberg in central Surinam, the easternmost sandstone table mountain outlier 

 of the Guayana Highland. The botanical results of the British Guiana field work 

 (April 13-May 23, 1944) and the Tafelberg Expedition (June 12-0ctober 13, 1944) 

 in Surinam have been published in a series of papers by him 13 in conjunction with 

 numerous collaborators. 



During 1944 and 1945 Julian A. Steyermark collected extensively in Ecuador 

 and Venezuela. In the Guayana Highland he visited Duida and Roraima, and during 

 the same period made the first botanical collections from Ptari-tepuT in the State 

 of Bolivar. Steyermark's numerous collections form the basis of his important con- 

 tributions 14 to the flora of Venezuela, of which part 1 is at this writing already 

 published. 



After the major expedition to Auyan-tepui, William H. Phelps and William H. 

 Phelps, Jr. continued their thorough program in the study and collection of the 

 avifauna of Venezuela. Recent active field work in Guayana has largely been 

 carried on by Mr. and Mrs. William H. Phelps, Jr. They have conducted a series 

 of explorations of the sandstone tepuis of the Gran Sabana and Territorio Ama- 

 zonas, beginning with a visit to Mount Roraima, continuing successively with ex- 

 peditions to Uaipan-tepuf, Chimanta-tepui, Guaiquinima, Sipapo (Paraque), Yavi, 15 

 Paru, and most recently with the ascent of Guanay and Camani in 1951. 



Mrs. Phelps (Kathleen D. Phelps) has been the botanist of these expeditions, 

 and, often with the assistance of Charles B. Hitchcock, has made invaluable con- 

 tributions to the botany of the Highland. The botanical materials of these expedi- 

 tions are at the New York Botanical Garden, where collaborative studies and pub- 

 lication on them are under way. 16 



Mrs. Phelps joined the staff of the New York Botanical Garden in 1950 as 

 Collaborator in Venezuelan Botany. As a result, the first of the joint studies, an 

 initial report on the plants of Uaipan-tepuf, is at this writing in the hands of 

 the editors. 17 



In January and February of this year (1951) Charles B. Hitchcock, Gerald 

 Budowski and Bassett Maguire had the pleasure of accompanying Mr. and Mrs. 

 Phelps on their exploration of Cerros Guanay and Camani in the headwaters of the 



ll Jour. Bot. 72: 306-314. /. 7-5. N 1934; 333-341. /. 6-12. D 1934. 

 "Geogr. Rev. 35: 563-579. 1945. 



"Maguire, Bassett and Collaborators. Plant explorations in Guiana in 1944, chiefly to 

 the Tafelberg and the Kaieteur Plateau. Bull. Torrey Club 75: 56-115, 182-230, 286-323, 

 374-438, 523-580, 633-671. 1948. 



l4 Steyermark, Julian A. and Collaborators. Contributions to the flora of Venezuela. 

 Fieldiana Bot. 28: 1-242. 1951. 



15 For a narrative of the Cerro Yavi expedition, see: Charles B. Hitchcock. The Orinoco- 

 Ventuari Region, Venezuela. Geogr. Rev. 37: 525-566. 1947. 



"Lasser, T. & Bassett Maguire. A Report on the Plants of the Phelps' Cerro Yavi 

 Expedition of 1947. Brittonia 7: 75-90. 1950. 



"Maguire, Bassett & Phelps, Kathleen D. Botany of the Phelps* Venezuelan Guayana 

 Expedition — II. Uaipan-tepui, Estado Bolivar. Bol. Soc. Venez. Ci. Nat. [in press.] 



