June 5, 1939 
The President 
The White House 
Washington, D. 0. 
Dear Mr. President: 
With this are twenty-five copies each of the second, third, 
and fourth papers so far to appear on the scientific results of the 
Presidential Cruise that I bring you with a letter of transmittal from 
Dr. Abbot . These are but a portion of the reports to be published on 
the collections. Additional reports are expected in the next week or 
two. 
The most interesting of the lot is the report by Dr. Cook 
describing the new palm from Cocos Island, which he so kindly named 
for you. It was Dr. 0. F. Cook (retired), of the Department of Agri- 
culture, who apprised m® of the presence of an undescribed species of 
palm on Cocos. I am both proud and happy that he has been kind enough 
to name it Franklin Boosevelt 's palm, Kooseveltia franklin! ana , for it 
proved to represent a new genus, as wall as a new species. 
All of the seeds of this palm that w® brought back sprouted 
and now are sturdy seedlings. I herewith leave four of them for you. 
The glass bell jar is to protect them from undue evaporation and should 
be kept on most of the time, but they do need a breathing and airing 
spell, for which the glass can be removed for a time. They also need 
plenty of water, but not too much. Your greenhouse man will know best. 
The seedlings were grown in the Department of Agriculture greenhouses 
at Glendale. Natural] y, in this latitude they will have to be kept in 
a greenhouse when they get too large for house use. 
You will be entertaining loyalty this week. One of the 
nicest presents you could make the King would be several of these 
palms for the woria famous loyal Botanical Cardens at Kew. As a 
brand new species, they should prove a novel and interesting addition 
to the collections of the Gardens. I am sure that the Department of 
