New-York tribune., 1909-05-02

very SNOWY, and secured plenty of living
| plants and herbarium specimens for division
with Professor William Treease. director of the
Missouri Botanical Garden. who has long been
prosecuting studies of the century plants.
1.-THE privilege of staying at the United States
naval station at Guantanamo Bay, east of
| Santiago had been kindly granted by Truman
| J. Newberry, Secretary of the Navy. upon the
request of Addison Brown, chairman of the
| executive committee of the board of managers
| Of the garden, and proceeded there March
| 16; most cordially received by Captain
C. H. Harlow, commandant of the station. who
| Hospitality entertained the station ship
! Newark, gave the of a large bungalow
on shore, and provided with bearers. carts,
| rOwboats and steam launches and evidenced
much interest in our work
| "Tho naval reservation includes about fifty
| square miles, partly hiIy. partly mangrove
| swamp and partly plains of very slight eleva-
| ton, called there savannas or salinas which
are flooded after heavy rains, and bench OF
coral limestone about forty feet high extends
around the bay much broken by erosion form
| ing picturesque headlands and islands.
| 1.-The coral limestone bench is characterized
by a beautiful silver thatch palm CCoccoth-
| rinax), and with it associated flora of low
| trees. shrubs and hcrbaceous plants of great
variety, some Of them OF much botanical in
| terest. Along the harbors of the low plains
grow plants of saline soil, mostly of wide dis
| tributon in the West Indies. In the thickets
| at low elevations another group Of species oc-
ours, and here we were delighted to find two
| Of the cactuses which especially de-
sirous to see. One Of these is Il diminutive
species of Mamillaria, not over two inches in
| diameter, which grows among fallen leaves un-
der trees and shrubs. difficult to detect, but
fortunately found by Mrs Britton while search
ing for mosses. and after its habitat had been
thus determined it found in considerable
quantities. growing in colonies up to two feet
across. Its small yellowish flowers are incon-
spicuous. Inasmuch as had searched the
Jamaican thic1ets in vain for this interesting
little plant. we were especially pleased to find
it here, and a basketful Of it geefully taken
| The other cactus Of particular interest is the
gigantic Cereus nudiorus, known only from
Cuba, a most extraordinary plant attaining
treelike dimensions and outline. A magnificent
specimen was found within a hundred feet of
| the first Mamillaras seen. with a trunk two
feet in diameter. branching at four or five feet
above the base into several stout limbs. and
there repeatedly branching into 4 round topped
plant about thirty five feet high. with a spread
as great as its height, the ultimate three
angIed to fve-angIed branches Characteristically
dropping 1 told that the plant attains
even greater dimensions. its height sometimes
fifty feet or 1t just coming into
bloom at n time Of visit. its ultimate
branches covered with buds but expanded
before we came away. l carried branch
along hoping TO see a flower expand but tho
buds wilted. l hope to secure flowers and fruit
later however. our guide being instructed to
pack them and preserve them in jar Of for
maIin solution left with him for that purpose
TN all. thirteen species of cactuses were seen
in the Guantanamo Valley and on the hills, and
cuttings or plants of all OF them ere collected
and shipped to the garden. The coastal hill
sides are veritable cactus deserts in places, and
the rainfall evidently Is very little. Cereus hys-
trix a coumnar species with upright branches.
reaches thirty-five feet in height, and is some
| times so spaced in the landscape as TO form
natural cactus parks. These coastal hillsides
: also harbor quantities OF the Cuban melon cac-
tus and n large number of small trees and
shrubs not found further inland
1.-The maguey. or century plant. found on the
hiilsides Of Santiago harbOr grows here also
| abundantIy. as well another species of agave
having whitish leaves. not in bloom in March.
and the Cuban furCrRa. related genus. also
occurs in the thickets. towering later in the
year. Living plants of all were collected Al
| together within the naval reservation we found
| between three hundred and fifty and four hun
| dred species of land plants, and brought away
| specimens Of most of them The total land
| fora OF the area probably includes at least five