Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-08
CACTl FROM MEXICO
NOTABLE ACQUISITION BY THE
NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN.
Results Of an Expedition to the Desert
Region of Tehuacan-A Carload
OF Living Specimens.
From the New York Evening Post.

From the New York Evening Post
Inc New York Botanical Garden has late
~ acquired valuab addition TO its great
CORRECTION or cact, which is now the most
complete In America. This accession is the
result or collections made this autun,n In
the elevated desert valleys of Mexico fst
an altitude of about 6ooo feet) by DR. DAN
lei Trembly MacDougal director of the Car
negie institution of Washington. and DR.
). n. Rose of the United States National
museum Specimens of the rare cacti oh
'aihed We're also sent to the Desert Labor
a'ory at Tuscon, Ariz-. which was estab-
nshed by the Carnegie institution.
Dr. N. l.. Brtton, director of the Bo
'"nical Garden, said today: DIR. MacDou-
gai arrived about the end of August I'm tho
CITY OF Mexico, whittier he had haap w.
ceued by DR.. Rose They passed the month
VI september In the desert region of 4 ehu-
,,s;,i 90 mics south of the City of Mexico
using the formo- town as a base of oper-
asiohs' and proceeding from IL as far as
my miles The cact of the region investi-
saeeu were hrst studied by weber a
rTench botanist, who was surgeon in
MaNImihar army of occupation, and who
aiterWard became one of the most eminent
ausnofitles on cactaceae. He published de-
sid.i, OF many o. the species and va
Ileties. Or Rose spent some time In this
region last year. and obtained a number of
Herparlum specimens and small photo-
SIaphs OF many of the most interesting and
nttIe-known kinds. He was unable ou,Ipy
to various difficulties of the situation tS
prlns out any considerable amount of living
iilatelial- HIS visit. however. demonstrated
.ie practicablllty of securing living speci-
mems under favorable conditions
Successful Shipment
'Drs. MacDougal and Rose obtained
plenty of peon helpers. and were much
aided by officials of the Mexican Central
railway In consequence, a freight car was
loaded with living cacti and other desert
plants and sent to Vera Cruz, Dr. Rose ac-
companying il to insure the sa fetv of ma
collections which were packed in wooden
cases and Mexican baskets The material
was transferred to Ward Line steamship
ana, IN charge of DIR. Roses son, was
brought directly to New York. arriving al
the garden early in October in perfect con-
dltlon Some of the plants had been col
lected not more than two weeks before they
1eLe Piaceo IN the greenhouses at Bronx
farK. owing TO the great care in collect
ing and packing the specimens, only two or
three of the 80 plants have failed to strike
root
The collection includes spccimens OF
ABOUT seventy-fve different species
scarcely any of which was previously rep
resented in the gardens assemblage of
cactl, so that the accession is very note
worthy one. These Mexican cacti vary in
size from the round mamillarias of two
or three inches diameter, up to branches
twelve fet long. taken from plants twenty
five to thirty feet high. Some of these
have already been placed on public exhibit
ton in house No. of the public conserya
tories, and the others are held in the prop
agating houses until they have become
more surely established All of the speci-
mems are growing well.
accompanying the collection was re-
markable series of photographs o. the
cacti, especially of the larger kinds, which
were taken by DR.; McDougaL These add
greatly to the collections scientific value
because the photographs bring out the nat
ural form and the method of the bra pch-
Ing of the plants in their native condition
The photographs will be PLACED on exhibit
ton In the museum.
Study of the Collection.
''Dr. McDougal is now in Tucson, where
he is carrying on. at the desert labora-
tory, some Investigations of the plants se-
cured in Tehuacan. in connection with his
long study of desert vegetation. DR. Rose
recently visited the New York garden for
the purpose of joining me in a study OF its
cactus collection a whole. with special
reference to the accession from Mexico.
We are now studying particularly the
genus cereus, which includes the largest of
the cacti, and we have found that the gar
den has specimens of nearly all the North
American varieties and species which have
been scientifically described, together with
a considerable number of species which
are new to science. These latter we are
now engaged in describing. The few spe-
cfes of the cereus still unrepresented in
the gardens collection are rare and little
known. 1t will probably be a long time
before specimens of all are secured, mas
much some are known to grow solely in
regions accessible only by the expenditure
of much time and labor
las a whole, our cactus collection is
rivaled only by the collections in the
royal gardens at Kew, England; the
botanical garden at Berlin, and the outdoor
gardens of Sir John Hamburg, at La Nor
tola, Italy"