SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
October 11, 1921 
Mr. Oakes Ames, 
355 Commonwealth Avenue, 
Boston, Massachusetts. 
Bear Mr. Ames: 
We are forwarding by mail, as a lean, a package con¬ 
taining our specimen of Lpokhartia chir l clu e ns Is . I trust 
that the package will reach you promptly. 
Thank you very much for the sixth volume of the Gr¬ 
ab i dace ae . Your thoughtfulness in sending this publica¬ 
tion is greatly appreciated. 
The occurrence of the Cuban species of Kabenarja in 
Panama is interesting, but perhaps not remarkable. The 
flora of Mexico as a whole does not seem to have any re¬ 
markably close relationship with that of Cuba except in 
the case of Yucatan. In Central America, however, the re¬ 
lationship with the West Indies in general is much more 
marked, but I do not recall anything which indicates a 
special affinity between the floras of Cuba and Panama. 
There are a great many species occurring in Jamaica, 
Porto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles which extend into 
Central America, but do not reach as far northward as 
Mexico. I have never tried to work out any statistics 
with regard to the relationships of the insular and con¬ 
tinental floras, but it would be an interesting piece of 
work and perhaps I may try it some day when the volume 
upon the flora of Central America is further advanced. 
There are numerous local 'problems of distribution in 
Central America and Mexico which are of particular inter¬ 
est. The most remarkable one with which I am. acquainted 
is the fact that along the western coast of Mexico, es¬ 
pecially in Tepic, Sinaloa, and Lower California, there 
are found a number of West Indian species which are not 
known elsewhere in Mexico. It is interesting, also, to 
find that in the arid region along the Pacific Coast of 
Mexico there are found a number of plants which occur in 
the similarly arid region of Venezuela, but are net known 
from Central America. I presume there is some good 
geological reason for such peculiar distribution, but I 
do not know what it is. 
Sincerely yours, 
Paul C. Standley 
Assistant Curator 
Division of Plants 
