U.S. Department of AgricultureDivision of Botany
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE U. S. NATIONAL HERBARIUM Vol.
III--No. 2 Issued June 10, 1894 Preliminary Revision of the North
American Species of Cactus, Anhalonium, and Lophophora.byJohn M.
Coulter. Published by Authority of the Secretary of Agriculture
WashingtonGovernment Printing Office1894 LETTER OF
TRANSMITTAL U. S. Department of AgricultureDivision of
BotanyWashington, D. C., March 21, 1894 SIR:I have the honor to
transmit herewith, for publication as Vol. III, No. 2, of Contributions from
the U. S. National Herbarium, a Preliminary Revision of the North
American species of Cactus, Anhalonium, and Lophophora, by President
John M. Coulter. Respectfully,Frederick V. Coville,Chief of the Division
of Botany. Hon. J. Sterling Morton,Secretary of Agriculture.
PRELIMINARY REVISION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN
SPECIES OF CACTUS, ANHALONIUM, AND LOPHOPHORA.
Prefatory Note. In the fall of 1890 Dr. George Vasey, then Botanist of the
Department of Agriculture, arranged with me to prepare a revision of
North American Cactaceae.Owing to the peculiar difficulty of preserving
material the family was poorly represented, even in our leading
herbaria.To secure a large amount of additional material in the way of
specimens and field notes the Department authorized me to visit the region
of the Mexican boundary during the summer of 1891.Preliminary to this
exploration it was necessary to examine the Engelmann collection of
Cactaceae, in the possession of the Missouri Botanical Garden.This
collection, supplemented by the continual additions made at the garden, is
by far the largest collection of skeletons and living specimens in this
country, and also contains the large majority of our types