The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-09-12
PHILIPPINE FLORA.
STUDY Taken Up by the New York
Botanical Garden.

DuflnE the UIEStlL IHOlAi lAiE ANSW
York botanical garden has been initial
ing a work which will probably occupy
its attention for twenty years to come.
This is the botanical exploration OF the
Philippines for which r. S. Williams,
who recently returned from similar work
in Bolivia, viii leave shortly Mr. VIII
liams will remain two or three years be-
fore taking his first vacation. AS the
work develops. skilled assistants may
join him. but at present he Will work
with native aid alone.
The Philippines offer an almost unex-
plored field to botanists. The Spanish
scientists looked about little, and
wrote one book. and recently the COM
missioner of agriculture made some col
iections. There are more than one
thousand islands in the archipelago, OK
tending through many degrees of lati-
tude, differing in soil and climate. They
may prove to differ as widely In flora as
the West Indies, no two of which are
alike Thorough botanical exploration
of the islands would require an extend
ed period, but fair representation may
be obtained in fifteen or twenty years.
d. o. Mills and others have provided
the fund for the purpose. This will for
some years be the most extensive ex-
ploration scheme carried on by the
garden.
Work in the West Indies will, how
ever, continue to occupy a large share
of the attention of the garden for the
next ten years. as it has for the last
the museum. makes frequent short
trips to different parts of the region for
the purpose of gaining a comprehensive
oversight of the whole field, while 9TH
ers spend longer periods in more de-
tailed exploration. DIR. Marshall A.
Howe has just returned from a coll
lecting trip in Porto Rico. Prof. T. E.
Lloyd. of Teachers college, is spending
three months in Dominica. DR.. Nc
Dougal during a recent trip arranged
with the director of the public gardens
of Jamaica for a collection of 5000 du-
plicates, containing many rare and val
liable specimens, for which duplicate
material at the New York garden will
be forwarded in exchange from time
to time. 1t will probably be ten years
before DR.. Britton will be ready to pre-
pare a flora of the region. Funds for
the exploration of Porto Rico were left
by the late Cornelius Vanderbilt, and
interest in the whole region is so gen.
eral that funds for it's exploration come
from many different sources in sums
ranging from IS to $500.
DR.. Howe devoted himself entirely to
sea plants during his recent visit to
Porto Rico. This is a field almost total
~ unexplored in that island. Only one
paper has ever been published upon it,
one by a German botanist in 1888. Since
then two small collections have been
made for the garden which are as yet
unstudied. y good deal of novelty
may be discovered. therefore, in the
marine algae of Porto Rico, although
the sea plants naturally do not vary so
widely as the land plants among the
different islands.
For the first time in his experience
as a collector. DIR. Howe was able to
use what he describes as the bathing
suit method" The waters about the
island are so warm that he was able to
work in them for hours a a time. some
times impossible in Florida, California,
or the Bermudas His richest finds
were made in the neighborhood of San
Juan. Here the shore offers all the
conditions beloved of sea plants: Coral
reefs. surf-beaten littoral rocks,
beaches. nearly enclosed bays and
lagoons, and mangrove swamps. He
remained four weeks. and then left
without having covered all the prom
Using coast within easy reach of the
capital. He visited also points on the
western and southern coasts, and
brought home 800 specimens in all.
One of the curious things about these
West Indian seaweeds to the lay OBJ
server is the number which have the
power of secreting lime. They cannot
be distinguished from coral by the I'M
trained eye. and even scientific travel
ers have made the same mistake. Their
branching stems look exactly like clus-
ters of pink and white coral: but on
cutting the growth open it is found to
be vegetable and not animal. These
limy seaweeds help their little coral
cousins to build up the coral reefs.
presenting very attractive appearance
in the water, but fade gradually to
white on the museum shelves.
Some of the specimens brought by
DIR. Howe make most interesting addi-
lions to the public exhibit One called
the sea bottle" is a collection of blad-
der-lil1e bodies full OF watery proto-
plasm. 1t is green and iridescent, but
IS gradually becoming translucent in
the case. Another grows in the shape
of a fan. and the ''mermaid's wine
glass" is covered with dainty little
white cups, slightly coated with frosty
lime. The "mermaid's shaving brush
exactly resembles the useful article fc<
which 1t is named. There are all sorts
of fairy-like feathery little things, and
small tree-like growths. like little pine
trees, not large enough for dolls gar
den. These are called ''sea spruces'' at
the museum, which supplies popular as
well as scientific names when both are
lacking.
Manv of these weeds are anchored to
the sand. a bunch of which they bring
away with them. grasDed in their tena-
cious, tiny filaments These filaments
are not roots at all. They absorb nc
nourishment from the sand, being simp-
~ threads to tie the plant down. Near-
~ all the seaweeds are attached to the
rocks or sand. the salient exception be-
ing the famous sargassum, floating
masses of which are met throughout
tropical waters. The Sargasso sea is sc