INTRODUCTION 



51 



drying of all material collected. I am also indebted to Doctor 

 Koningsberger for the original map of Amboina, on which the 

 one presented herewith was based, and for numerous specimens 

 representing species not available in Manila, but which it was 

 desirable to examine. 



Assistance has been had from several specialists in the pre- 

 paration of this report. The treatment of the Marantaceae, 

 of the Zingiberaceae, and of Heliconia, in the Musaceae, as 

 presented in this work, is that of Doctor Th. Valeton; the 

 Orchidaceae is the work of Doctor J. J. Smith. The other 

 groups have been worked up by me, but I have had the assistance 

 of various specialists in certain families. The Pteridophyta 

 have been determined by Captain C. R. W. K. van Alderwereldt 

 van Rosenburg, of Buitenzorg.* The Pandanaceae were deter- 

 mined by Doctor U. Martelli, Florence, Italy; the Palmae by 

 Doctor 0. Beccari, Florence, Italy; the Bambusae by J. Sykes 

 Gamble, esq., East Liss, England; the Piperaceae by Mr. C. de 

 Candolle, Geneva, Switzerland; and the Sapindaceae by Doctor 

 L. Radlkofer, Munich, Germany. Doctor Th. Valeton has 

 assisted me in the identification of the Rubiaceae, while Mr. 

 F. S. Collins, North Eastham, Massachusetts, has identified the 

 algae and has kindly supplied me with extracts from books 

 not available in Manila regarding the Rumphian species of 

 this group. Mr. I. H. Burkill, director of the Botanic Garden, 

 Singapore, has supplied me with critical notes regarding Dios- 

 coreaceae. To Doctor Walter T. Swingle, Washington, D. C, 

 I am indebted for a photostat copy of Burman's "Index alter," 

 a work not available in Manila and of which I was unable to 

 secure a copy; to Mr. F. V. Coville, Mr. P. L. Richer, and Mr. 

 S. C. Stuntz, of the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 I am indebted for typewritten or photostat copies of numerous 

 original descriptions not available in Manila; to Doctor George 

 T. Moore, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, 

 Missouri, for the loan of certain books ; to Sir David Prain and 

 Mr. A. W. Hill, of the Kew gardens, London, England, and to 

 Doctor A. B. Rendle, of the British Museum, for copies of de- 

 scriptions and for critical notes on various type specimens. To 

 all of these gentlemen I wish to express my thanks for assistance 

 rendered, without which the present consideration of the 

 Rumphian species must of necessity have been less complete and 

 more inexact than it is. 



* The Amboina Pteridophyta collected by C. B. Robinson. Philip. Journ. 

 Sci. 11 (1916) Bot. 101-123, t. 5, 6. 



