SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
June 18, 1921. 
Mr. Oakes Ames, 
355 Commonwealth Avenue, 
Boston, Massachusetts. 
Dear Mr. Ames: 
Recently I have begun work upon a flora of Central 
America, which will, of course, require several years for 
completion, hut, barring accident, it should be completed 
within a reasonable time. 
In beginning the flora, which is expected to be issued 
in parts, one of the first groups to attract attention is 
the Orcbidaceae, the largest and perhaps also the most, 
difficult group of Central American plants. I am writing.to 
ask what suggestions you can make with regard to this famdly. 
I should like, if possible, to have the treatment ready fox 
publication in a year and a half. Would you be willing to 
undertake the preparation of an account of all or of any part 
of the family? i" should like very much to have you prepare 
the whole account if you consider it practicable. In the 
preparation of the proposed flora, which is intended to be a 
resume of our present knowledge of Central American plants, 
the treatment of a genus would not necessarily have the fi¬ 
nality of a monograph, although, of course, the same results 
are desirable in both cases, if feasible. 
naturally I should prefer to have you treat the whole 
familjr, but I should not mind doing the smaller genera, and 
others that have been monographed recently--these are not 
very numerous—myself. I should like to acquire some 
knowledge of the family and that is the best way of obtaining 
it. 
I have been interested in looking over Sohlechter's list 
of the Central American orchids, and I find he has listed about 
870 of them. A good deal of our material has been identified 
by him, and much of it by yourself, but we have a large ac¬ 
cumulation of unidentified specimens. I suspect that Schlecbter 
might be willing to prepare an account of the Central American 
orchids, but I should prefer not to ask him until other re¬ 
sources have been exhausted. I should state that the pro¬ 
posed flora is intended to be a descriptive one, with keys to 
the species. I have intended to make the descriptions brief, 
but any one contributing any portion can suit himself in that 
respect. 
