\ V< ft,-"" Amrriratt 3txrx Journal ■ AB^f V. '$ A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO FERNS , (Z j ^ X~l Published by the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY j* EDITORS R. C. BENEDICT WINSLOW C. A. WEATHERBY # <£ \ VOLUME XV - n 1 9 2 $-/cj 2 -n -p \- ■ * AUBURNDALE, MASS ' .. .. -r . *^«U**W ^ CONTEXTS Volume 15, Number 1, Pages 1-34, Issued May 26, 1925 Some Fern Finds in Virginia E. T. Wherry 1 Main Lines of Evolution in Equisetum- — I J. H. Schaffner 8 Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — IV F. E. Come 13 Notes on American Ferns — XX W. B. Maxon 16 Recent Fern Literature 19 Fragrant Massachusetts Fern , F. E. Come 21 Spinulose Ferns of Tim Pond - E. H. Clarlcson 22 American Fern Society ~ 24 Volume 15, Number 2, Pages 35-68, Issued June 30, 1925 Main Lines of Evolution in Equisetum — II J. H. Schaffner 35 Proper Use of the Name Filix - K. K. Mackenzie 40 The Appalachian Aspleniums ~....~ E. T. Wherry 47 New tropical American Ferns — II W. B. Maxon 54 Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — V F. E. Come 57 Recent Fern Literature 62 Note on the Hart 's-tongue in New York 65 Abnormal Fruiting of the Cinnamon Fern W. A. Murrill 66 American Fern Society - 67 Volume 15, Number 3, Pages 69-100, Issued Oct. 21, 1925 Fern Collecting in Haiti— I E. C. Leonard 69 Ferns— Facts and Fancies about them— VI F. E. Come 80 Unusual Fern Finds H. Mousley 87 Data on Scolopendrium vulgare W. B. McColl 90 Notes on Cinnamon Ferns E. If. Kittredge 93 Recent Fern Literature 98 American Fern Society - 100 Volume 15, Number 4, Pages 101-134, Issued Jan. 15, 1926 Charles Humpnrey Bissell C. A. Weatherby 101 Fern Collecting in Haiti— II E. C. Leonard 107 Ferns— Facts and Fancies about them— VII F. E. Come 118 Recent Fern Literature - - 123 Saving the Hart's Tongue B. C. Benedict 124 American Fern Society 125 Index to Volume 15 131 V J 2 1 Vol. 15. January-March, 1925 No ■ V' mmratt 3nw Journal A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO FERNS Published by toe AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY & EDITORS R. C. BENEDICT WINSLOW C. A. WEATHERBY J* CONTENTS Some Fera Finds in Virginia E. 1 Wherky 1 Main Lines of Evolution in Equisetum— I. J. H »aw> 8 Ferns— Facts and Fancies about them -IV W. 1 1 Notes on American Ferns- XX W. A. VIaj 16 Recent Fern Literature.. Fragrant Massachusetts Fern *" E ( m l Spinuloae Ferns of Tim Pond- ... E. H. Glasdo* 24 American Fern Society... . AN UAL SUBSCRIPTION. $!.»: FOREIC $135 AUBURNDALE. MASS. Entemf aa lecond rinn maffer §< th# Autinmrt.'ih Boston. Mass., Tost Office. unoVr fh#» AH of 4 ^« for tiling at apt* raff of i pr« * »r iy.^» Act of ober 3. 1917. authorize! on July K Wis ^ r I at?? American 3trn #ortetg (Sotmriiftfr 1024 officers for the year William R. Maxon, Washington, D. C. - - - President Mrs. Carlotta C. Hall, Berkeley, Calif. - - Vice-president Rev. C. S. Lewis, 835 Edgewood Ave., Trenton, N. J. Secretary J. G. Underwood, Hartland. Vt. .--- Treasurer OFFICIAL ORGAN Ammom iFertt Kottrnal Ralph C. Benedict - - 322 East 19th St., Brooklyn, N. Y. E. J. Winslow Aubumdale, Mass. C. A. \7eatherby East Hartford, Conn. An illustrated quarterly devoted to the general study of ferns. Subscription, $1.25 per year, foreign, 10 cents extra; sent free to members of the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY (annual dues, $1.50; life membership, $25.00). Extracted reprints, if ordered in advance, will be furnished authors at cost. They should be ordered when proof is returned. Volume I, six numbers, $2.00 ; other volumes $1.25 each. Single back numbers 35 cents each. Volume I, number 1 cannot be sup- plied except with complete volume. Ten per cent, discount on orders of six volumes or more. Matter for publication should be addressed to R. C. Benedict, 322 East 19th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Subscriptions, orders for back numbers, and other business communications should be addressed to E. J. Winslow, Auburn- dale, Mass. CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM L. S. Hopkins - . Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Mo. A regular loan department is maintained in connection with the Society herbarium. Members may borrow specimens from it at any time, the borrower paying all postal or express charges. The pages of the Journal are also open to members who wish to arrange exchanges ; a membership list is published to further assist those interested in obtaining specimens from different localities. Ammran ifartt Journal Vol. 15 JANUARY-MARCH, 1925 No. 1 Some Fern Finds in Virginia Edgar T. Wherry BOTRYCHIUM OBLIQUUM VSF. TENUIFOLIUM. In August, 1924, several visits were made to Lanexa, New Kent County, Virginia (between Richmond and Williams- burg), for the purpose of verifying the existence there of Habenaria repens, reported by the late Professor Grimes. This orchid was not found, and there is a pos- sibility that an abnormal plant of H. elavellafa or H. lacera was mistaken for it ; but the discovery of other interesting plants made the trips worth while. In the swamp along the Chickahominy River 0.7 kilometer south-southwest of the railroad station a small colony of a peculiar Grapefern 1 was noted. It differs from typical Botrychium obliquum, which also grows there, in its sterile segment having only 9 to 12 divisions, with more or less cuneate bases, and in the fertile segment being once-pinnate, or at most twice-pinnate at the base, and very slender-stemmed. Another distinction consists in the length of the common stalk of the two segments, which in B. obliquum is rarely more than 2 centimeters long, but here is 4 to 5 cm., or about one fourth the total [Volume 14, No. 4 of the Journal, pages 99-130, plat 7 and 8, was issued January 6, 1925*] 1 The spellings and arrangements of common names are those of Standardized Plant Names, Salem, 1923, except where noted. 1 2 American Fern Journal height of the plant. It evidently approaches the south- ern B. obliquum var. tenuifolium (Underwood) Gilbert, 2 and justifies the inclusion of this variety in lists of ferns of the northeastern states. 3 The habitat is a dense swampy woods, with Pond Pine (Pinus serotina), Baldcypre-s (Taxodium distkhum), Tupelo (Nyssa sp.), and much Greenbrier (Smilax sp.) 4 The Grapeferns grow in damp peaty depressions, just low enough to be affected slightly by the tide in the river. Their soil reaction is subacid to mediacid, specific acidity 50 to 150. No consistent differences in reaction or shad- ing could be detected between the typical species and the variety, although the latter occurs in somewhat moister places. Pellaea glabella.— The discovery of this fern in the southwestern part of Virginia in 1923 has been an- nounced by Rev. Fred. W. Gray. 5 In late August, 1924, it turned up in an entirely different region, namely along Hawksbill Creek, three kilometers north of Luray, Page County, or about 250 km. northeast of the other locality, — _ft _ _ A I m _ extension The colony is a very small one, not more than 10 plants being in evidence, and most of these being much stunted. It is on the north face of a small limestone cliff, standing 2 Nomenclature of Gray's Manual, 7th edition. 3 There has, heretofore, been some question as to whether it should be so included, as the only northeastern material preserved was very near to B. obliquum; and it was omitted from the recent list of Tilton, Fern-lovers' Companion, 1922. The present material, together with a collection made by Grimes, near Williamsburg, No. 3113, at any rate seems distinct enough to receive some nomen- clatorial recognition. * There is less Greenbrier now than there was before my visits. 5 This journal, 14: 124. 1924. Fern Finds in Virginia 3 out on the east bank of the creek, near a cave opening around which the rock forms a sort of arch. The soil reaction is as usual for this species minimalkaline, specific alkalinity 5. The Purple Cliffbrake grows on the same rock-face, but the two can be readily distinguished even at a distance by the bluer color and more compact habit of the Smooth Cliffbrake. Cheilanthes tomentosa.- — In the article on the soil * preferences of rock ferns 6 this was placed in subacid and minimacid reaction-classes on the basis of tests of soil around the roots of herbarium specimens only. It has since been tested in the field, in late May, 1923, in the railroad cut east of Natural Bridge Station, C. & 0. Railroad. While the rock there is limestone (which nor- mally gives rise to more or less alkalinity) the fern grows in gravel on such steep slopes that the rain has had a chance to leach out free lime, and the soil reaction is neutral. The same is true of C. lanosa, which also occurs there. Therefore, while both of these ferns seem- ingly prefer slightly acid soils, they can evidently toler- ate neutral conditions, although their failure to grow here on the bare rock ledges indicates the unfavorable effect upon them of actual alkalinity. Polypodium virginianum forma deltoideum. — Plants of the Rock-cap Fern 7 with deltoid fronds having basal e This journal, 10: 17. 1920. 7 The common name usually given for the east- American repre- sentative of Polypodium vulgar e 9 P. virginianum, is "Common Polypody"; but the term "polypody" is merely a modification of the technical name, and not in common use except by people who already know this technical name. This plant is known to the more observant natives of the Appalachian Mountains as the Rock cap Fern, which is so appropriate a term that its introduction into general use seems desirable. American Fern Journal Volume 15, Plate 1 POLYPODIUM VIRGIXIAXUM, FORMA DELTOIDEUM, Bath County, Virginia f Fern Finds in Virginia 5 spurs were observed in mid- August, 1924, on sandstone ledges around a small spring in open woods on the east side of the road to Bolar, 11 kilometers north-northwest W There were all grada- tions, from the peculiarly shaped fronds to normal ones, and both extremes were often definitely attached to the same rootstocks (plate 1). The soil reaction proved to be subacid, specific acidity 50, a value characterise of many occurrences of the species. POLYPODIUM VIRGINIANUM forma ACUMINATUM. — A COl- ony of the Rock-cap Fern with unusually large fronds having markedly acuminate segments was found on a sandstone boulder in a Hemlock-Rhododendron woods on the cast side of the road, 3 km. north-northeast of the preceding locality. All of the hundred or more fronds on the clump w T ere alike (plate 2), although adjacent boulders were covered by plants with normal fronds. The soil reaction is low subacid, specific acidity 10-20. While both of the above variants of Pol y podium vir- ginianum may be forms, in the technical sense in which that term is used by modern taxonomists. the writer here ventures to suggest that their relationship to the typical species is sufficiently different to justify some sort of nomenclatorial recognition. The "deltoideum" outline is an individual- frond variation, which, in the writer's experience at least, occurs more or less throughout the range f the species. On the other hand, the "acumi- natum" type is an individual-plant variation, and has apparently been observed only in northern and high altitude localities. Just how this recognition shall be made may be left for specialists in taxonomy to decide. Thelypteris simulata. — The southernmost locality at which this fern has been reported heretofore appears to American Fern Journal Volume 15, Plate 2 polypodium virginianum, forma acuminatum, Bath County, Virginia Fern Finds in Virginia 7 be Suitland, Maryland, just east of the District of Colum- bia. In the course of the trip to Lanexa, Virginia, de- scribed above under Botrychium, a small colony of it was found in the dense swamp about 0.6 kilometer south- southwest of the station. The soil, which is damp and peaty, proved to be low mediacid in reaction, specific acidity 100, as usual for the species. This extends its known range southward some 175 kilometers. Asplenium ebenoides. — Two plants of this hybrid were noted in late August, 1924, one on the southeast bank of the Shenandoah River one kilometer southwest of Overall Station, the other 2 km. further southwest, along Dry Run near Compton Station, both in Page County, in the Shenandoah Valley. The former plant was photographed but not disturbed ; the latter, being in a precarious situation, at the edge of a chicken yard sur- rounded by luxuriant weeds, was transplanted to the writer's garden. The rock in both cases was limestone, and the soil reaction minimalkaline, specific alkalinity 5 to 8. Asplenium bradleyi. — Because of the rarity of this species, as well as the conflicting statements in the litera- ture as to its soil preferences, new localities for it are always worth reporting. In May, 1924, during an excur- sion of Wild Flower Preservation Society members from Washington, I). C, to Point of Rocks, on the Potomac River, a single plant of unmistakable A. bradleyi was found on quartzite ledges, on the north face of cliffs along Furnace Mountain, Loudoun County, Virginia. Its soil reaction proved to be low mediacid, specific acidity 100, as usual for the species in the writer's experience. Washington, D. C. 8 American Fern Journal Main Lines of Evolution in Equisetum 1 — I John II. Schaffner In general, evolution may manifest itself in two ways in a group of plants. There may be progressive changes which lead up to a higher level and there may also be segregative changes giving rise to characters which are simply different in kind. By the development of segre- gative characters new groups or branches arise which may go through a series of progressive changes or steps paralleling more or less closely those which are appear- ing in the original group. In classification, therefore, it becomes important to recognize what is a low type from what is a high type of plant as well as what characters are persistent in the given group and, therefore, of phylogenetic value. The easiest way to decide on the relative positions of two plants is to look past the characters they may possess to the hereditary properties that produce these charac- ters. For it is often true that an apparently simpler organ or organ complex represents the activity of a much more complex heredity than a more complicated organ- ography which may merely represent repetition. Low types have fewer, more generalized, functional activities and high types have more specialized, complex, func- tional activities. Besides looking into the characters and the heredity of the plants under consideration them- selves, a comparison must also be made with plants ad- mittedly higher in the scale and with those lower. Applying these principles to the living species of Equiseta gives an arrangement nearly opposite to that which has been in vogue for a long time, and shows that i Papers from the Department of Botany, The Ohio State Uni- versity, No. 151. Lines of Evolution in Equisetim 9 in the old arrangement still in our manuals the sup- posed evolutionary series is upside down. Although undoubted fossil Equiseta occur rather far back in the geological scale, the evidence to be obtained from this source is still too imperfect to be of much assistance in forming a picture of the true nature of the ancestors of the present-day species. But taking the paleobotanical evidence together with what may be seen in the surviving species and related classes, one can set up an imaginary hypothetical ancestry which is prob- ably not very far from the fact. The present genus leads back to a perennial plant with secondary increase in stem thickness and with ordinary sporadic, monopodial branching. Sooner or later the stem was differentiated into aerial shoot and rhizome, the growing bud evolving the property of dimorphic response to gravity, some buds growing up and some staying under ground. At the same time or later, internodes and whorled, reduced leaves came from the more primitive spiral condition without internodes. Also two types of determinate shoots (one determinate in the -porophyll-be;iring axis, the other in the aerial, vegetative axis), hollow, aerial sterns, leaf sheaths with minute teeth, and whorled branches appeared. The floral development in the living species is of the most primitive type, the cones developing singly at the ends of vegetative branches, never being collected into inflorescences as in some of the higher species of Lycopodium. It will be seen, therefore, that Equisetum is a primitive type with a highly specialized organography. The perennial rhizome is fairly uniform in character in all the living species, differing only in such details as thickening of special internodes. and the like. The lowest type of aerial shoot is large, green, and long-lived, 10 American Fern Journal with whorles of branches and is definitely specialized into sterile and fertile systems with the possibility, as in all other horsetails, of occasional intermediate or semi- sterile shoots. The two kinds of shoots are essentially alike except in the presence and absence of cones, which are abundantly produced at the tips and on the branches. The immediate forerunner of the present species prob- ably had rather long, ampliated, green sheaths with per- sistent teeth although these characters are not neces- sarily retained in the lowest present-day species. The cone axis stops growing very gradually, giving rise to a prominent point at the tip. The stomata are in bands of several straight rows or scattered in the bands. Equisetum xylochaetum Mett., E. pyramidale Goldm., and E. giganteum L. are of this type and are the typical members of the Equiseta primitiva. The Equiseta primi- tiva have the sheath teeth more or less tardily deciduous. As stated, the original condition was probably a sheath with persistent teeth. If so, our lowest living horsetails have changed in this respect, although their teeth are much more tardily deciduous than those of Equisetum praealtum or E. kiemale. Milde 2 established five species which if valid properly belong in this group of Equiseta primitiva-, E. xylo- chaetum, E. martii Milde, E. pyramidale, E. giganteum, and E. schaffneri Milde. Baker 3 reduced these species to two — E. giganteum and E. xylochaetum — and also in- cluded E. myriochaetum as a synonym of E. giganteum. The writer has up to the present time not been able to of conclusions appear to be at least three good species, as species go in 2 Milde, J. Monographia Equisetorum. 1867. 3 Baker, J. G. Handbook of the Fern-Allies. 1887. Lines of Evolution in Equisetum 1 1 Equisetum, namely, E. xylochaetum, E. giganteum, and E. myriochaeUun. Whatever the true status of the other three species may be, will not affect our notions of the evolutionary relationships of the higher species, as out- lined in this paper, since fortunately all occur in the same general, distributional region — tropical and sub- tropical America. One line of evolution passed on from the first group through E. myriochaetum Schlecht. and Cham., which has the stomata reduced to single rows, over to E. ramo- sissimum Desf., E. deb He Roxb., and E. laevigatum A. Br., which three latter species are the lowest repre- sentatives of the group Equiseta hiberna. E. myrio- a chaetum, although having single rows of stomata, is large and has abundant whorls of branches, often with cones, and shows a closer affinity to the Equiseta primi- tiva. E. ramosissimum is still much branched and some- times has the stomata in narrow bands but the other two species show a change toward the unbranched aerial shoot and single lines of stomata. Branches, however, may still appear the first season. In E. praealtum Raf. and E. kiemale L. branching is absent the first season unless the stems are injured and comparatively rare or sporadic afterwards, unless they are injured or have developed cones the first year. Their sheaths are of the extreme cylindrical type, soon becoming discolored and dry. The extreme is reached in the group with E. varie- gatum Schleich. and E. scirpoides Mx., which have de- cided reduction in the thickness and size of the aerial shoots and are developed in* dense tufts or clusters. The sheaths are evolved along different lines from those of the praeaUum-hiemale type, apparently being a direct modification of the primitive, green, ampliated condition with persistent teeth. In E. scirpoides the extreme re- 12 American Fern Journal duct ion in size of stem is accompanied by the develop- ment of a solid pith which must here be regarded as a secondary condition originating from the hollow type. A similar evolution went on in the branches of the higher horsetails. From the ramosksimum-laevigatum group, the mem- bers of which have evergreen stems, ampliated green sheaths, and apiculate cones, a small group branches off consisting of two closely related species, E. kansanum Schaffn. and E. funstoni Eat., the group Equiseta ambigua. The aerial shoots have become annual and the cones have lost the terminal points, through a more prompt determination of the growth of the terminal bud of the cone. In these respects they have evolved in the same manner as the two highest groups. In E. kan- sanum, sporadic development of whorls of branches on the main shoot is present but commonly the plant is entirely unbranched, being in its branching habits very much like E. laevigatum. In E. funstoni, a peculiar branching system has developed in that in typical cases the main, erect, naked shoots are surrounded at the base by a dense rosette of small prostrate branches. The ampliated green sheath is also modified, having a strongly incurved limb. E. funstoni is plainly the more extreme and represents the culmination in the series, E. ramosissimum, E. laevigatum, E. kansanum, E. funstoni. Columbus, Ohio (To be continued) Ferns — Facts and Fancies about Them 13 Ferns — Fact and Fancies About Them— IV F. E. Corne onian-a To turn now to the more practical part of our sub- ject — let us see how we can be certain that a plant is really a true fern, and not a fern-like flowering plant. There are three essential things to remember about the ferns. Leaves or fronds and also roots spring directly from root stems, young fronds are coiled up or circinate, as it is called, in the bud, and they bear spores instead of seeds. Everyone is familiar with uncoiling fern fronds in spring. Mrs. Parsons quotes someone as say- ing that there is nothing in nature which looks "more aggressively new than a young fern." This seems to apply particularly to those whose tightly coiled crosiers emerge in soft scales or wool of the most delicate shades. I have in my garden an Interrupted Fern, Osmunda one of the earliest arrivals each spring, which comes clothed in pure white wool just slightly flecked here and there with pale golden brown, the light bright green of the stipes or stem peeping through. For some days it is by far the daintiest thing in the garden. This wool falls off as the fronds grow larger, and is said to be eagerly sought by small birds to felt their nest- with. The sturdy Royal Fern, Osmunda regalia, also looks young and lovely in pink or pale wine color. But the smooth glossy green of the Lady Fern and some others is less attractive. The coiled-up condition of the young fronds is one great peculiarity of true ferns. The Botrychiums, Grape ferns, or Moonworts are only fern allies, and they are folded, not coiled, in the bud. In true ferns the smallest pinnules or divisions of each frond are coiled up toward the next larger, and that again toward the midrib. Some 14 American Fern Journal ferns uncoil quickly, others continue to uncurl and grow from the tip indefinitely. A Lygodium or climbing fern is reported from Jamaica one hundred feet long, and still growing. We all know how persistently our Boston Fern remains curled at the tips as it continues to grow, and how careful one must be to protect those tips from injury. If the end of a fern frond is injured the frond stops growing. It may remain green for a long while but it grows no more, and the tip burns brown and un- sightly. In all true ferns the stem or stipe of each frond grows separately directly out from a rootstock. This is true even of the tree ferns. Most of our ferns have subter- ranean rootstocks while those of the tree ferns are aerial, taking the place of tree trunks, not tapering, however, like trees, but the same size all the way up, and topped by crowns of huge fronds. The sides are covered by brown scales and are often hui Rootstocks are, roughly speaking, of two widely differ- ent sorts called, respectively, caudex and rhizome. A caudex is roundish, short and thick, bearing its fronds in tufts or circles, while the roots grow in a tassel-like bunch. contrary cord-like, growing rapidly, sometimes on the surface, but usually underground ; sometimes even very deep down, and on the under side is a fringe of rootlets. On this kind of root stem every few inches, more or less accord- ing to the kind of fern, a bud will appear upon the upper part. Below this the roots grow more thickly, the bud develops into a frond and becomes a new plant. This is the manner of growth of the Hay-scented Fern or Dick- sonin which covers so thickly many country roadsides; so also the brake which is a vigorous grower, allowing almost nothing to impede it. It has been known to go down as many as fifteen feet to get round a stone in its Ferns — Facts and Fancies about Them 15 way and then come up on the other side. Ferns with the short rootstocks throw out new crowns occasionally, but increase much more slowly. When they carry their fronds in circles like the Marginal Shield Fern the new fronds always grow out from the center and can be seen several months in advance coiled up and covered up with soft brown scales all ready for the following spring. But the sporangia or groups of spore cases are the most characteristic and most important thing about the ferns. These are to be found, in the majority of ferns, on the under side, or sometimes on or close to the edges, and also sometimes, though very rarely, on the upper side of an ordinary leaf. Fronds bearing spores are called fertile, those without are sterile fronds. Those little groups of spore cases, called sporangia, are in dif- ferent positions, and of different shapes, and help to identifjr genera. On examining fronds of our ordinary wild ferns, either freshly gathered or pressed specimens, it will be seen that these little groups, fruit dots as they are sometimes called, vary very much. On our common Polypody, known to everyone, they are round, conspicu- ous, yellow or bright yellowish brown when ripe, and often so large that the two rows almost cover the pin- nules or leaf divisions on which they grow. On other species, the spinulose or Lace Fern of the florist for in- stance, they are small and dainty, while on the Marginal Shield Fern they grow close to the edue as the name implies. Again on another genus, the spleemvorts, these fruit dots are not round but elongated. On the Wood- wardias or Chain ferns they are also elongated and grow in rows end to end close to the midrib, thus forming little chains. In still others the fertile fronds are contracted, entirely or in part, and may be quite unlike the sterile fronds. Our Christmas Fern, so-called because it re mains green through the winter and is much used by 16 American Fern Journal florists at Christmas time, has the tip or apex of the fer- tile frond so contracted that it bears in some places the name of dagger fern. The fertile fronds of the so-called "flowering ferns" are all very peculiar and puzzling to beginners until familiar with them. The Cinnamon Osmunda, for in- stance, bears in June within a circle of broad bright green sterile leaves a number of spikes of brilliant cin- namon colored spore cases, looking at a short distance exactly like clusters of tiny flowers. Again the Onocleas have spikes of tiny rolled up pinnules which inclose the spore cases, and which turn brown when ripe and resem- ble clusters of little nuts or seed vessels. The fertile fronds of the Ostrich Fern instead of being taller than the sterile ones, as is usually the case, are much shorter, only one quarter or a third as high, are rigid and up- right and look much like dilapidated wornout quill feath- ers which some say gives the fern its name. But the green sterile leaves are also feather-like. Gather one when you have opportunity and place it in a vase of water. It will not live more than an hour or two, but will not shrivel up as so many do. Notice how grace- fully the tip soon begins to droop and curl until it looks for all the world like a lovely green ostrich plume. Cambridge, Mass. Notes on American Ferns— XX 1 William R. Maxon Cheilaxthes alabamensis (Buckl.) Kunze.— Though correctly ascribed to Arizona on the basis of specimens collected in the Huachuea Mountains by Lemmon in T » Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Notes on American Ferns — XX 17 1882, this species has not been known otherwise from the area beyond western Texas. It is thus of interest to put on record a specimen collected in Big Canyon, Guada- lupe Mountains, New Mexico, June 4, 1924, by Dana W. Lee (no. 158). The present material, though scant, is unmistakable. ANTHES AEMU lected bv Mr On the basis of speci- long ago 2 recognized as specifically distinct from C. micro phylla Swartz a Texas plant which D. C. Eaton had regarded as a subdeltoid form of that species, and listed it as C. Moritziana Kunze. Inasmuch as C. Moritziana — is ordinarily ascribed only to northern South America, the writer recently sought the loan of the Texas material, and at Mr. Clute's suggestion Mr. Ferriss sent on two specimens, one being from New Braunfels, the other from Devil's River, Texas. They prove to be C. aonula Maxon, 3 a species closely related to C. Moritziana, known hitherto only from Mexico and represented by the fol- lowing specimens in the National Herbarium: Tamau- lipas. Palmer 187 (type), 297, 563, 564; San Luis Potosi. Purpus 4883, 5483 ; Veracruz, Purpus 2173 ; Nuevo Leon, Pringle 1988 ; Coahuila or Nuevo Leon, Palmer 1413. Of C. Moritziana the following material is at hand: Vene- zuela, Robinson & Lyon; Pittkr 6139, 9550, 10216, 11559; Eggers 13341; Rose 21650; Fendler 65; Colom- bia, Lehmann 2217, 5441, 6057. From a comparison of these series it is seen that C. Moritziana differs constantly in its lesser size, its less strongly deltoid blades, its smaller, more distant, rounded, mostly cuneate segments, and its non-continuous indusia, as also in its much thm- 2 Fern Bull. 12: 44. 1904. 3Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: 49.1. 1908 18 American Fern Journal ner texture and in character and distribution of pubes- cence. In C. aemula the sori are confluent, the continu- ous indusia being only occasionally interrupted by a shallow indentation. The two Texas specimens have been presented to the National Herbarium by Mr. Ferriss, who states that the species is not uncommon in the region whence they came. Cheilanthes castanea Maxon. — In the course of field work in the vicinity of Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico, undertaken under the auspices of the National Geo- graphic Society early last year, Mr. Vernon Bailey col- lected excellent specimens of this interesting species, which had been known previously only from Mexico (Coahuila, Palmer 1390, type; Hidalgo, Pringle 11277). Oddly enough, an additional specimen from western Texas turned up a few weeks later among a shipment of plants received from the University of Texas, this having been collected in the Davis Mountains, September 15, 1918, by Prof. B. C. Tharp (no. 2177). Another species is thus added to the United States fern flora. Although both Mexican collections of C. castanea* were originally distributed as C. gracillima D. C. Eaton, a species ranging from British Columbia to Nevada and central California, the relationship is really with C. Eatoni Baker. From this C. castanea differs very evi- dently in its fewer and several times larger segments, which, though at first very thinly and loosely grayish- tomentulose above, are soon glabrate and at all stages are distinct and separate ; in C. Eatoni the segments are closely enveloped and invariably held together by a mass of entangled hairs. C. castanea is less closely allied to C. tomcntosa Link. The name alludes to the rich tawny ^Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 32: 111. 1919. Recent Fern Literature 19 color of the spirally crispate hairs, which form a copious rather loose tomentum thickly covering the under side of the segments. Selaginella neomexicana Maxon. — This species was founded on several collections from the Organ Mountains of New Mexico and has since been reported only from the vicinity of Paradise, Arizona. An eastward exten- sion of range is noted in specimens from Mt. Franklin, El Paso, Texas, recently received from Mrs. Elsie McE. Slater. The plants are said to have come from the per- pendicular walls of a canyon on the southwestern flank of the mountain. It is apparently a rare species. Washington j D. C. Recent Fern Literature The search for Lyco podium prothallia goes on 1 so suc- cessfully that the authors of one of the latest reports on them — Professors Alma G. Stokey and Anna M. Starr, of Mt. Holyoke College — say that they are probably much less rare than has been supposed — a statement which seems eminently justified by the commonness of mature plants which must have originated somehow. The difficulty is to see your first prothallium, or the tiny sporeling which indicates its probable presence; once your eye is trained and you have learned where to look and, maybe, the technique of sifting prothallia out of a trowelful of earth, finding them is a comparatively simple matter — though still one of care and patience. Professors Stokey and Starr report seven stations in "western Massachusetts" — which in this case means the Connecticut valley — at which they have found prothallia. L. obscurum was represented at five of them, L. clava- iSee Fern Journal 13: 122, 1923. 20 American Fern Journal turn at one, and at three what the authors call L. com- plana turn. In that region, however, their plant can hardly have been the typical form of the species; it must have been the var. flab elli forme. The distinction would seem to be worth making, as a matter of taxonomic and geographic exactness. The variety is confined to a com- paratively restricted area in eastern North America, mostly in the northeastern United States. Typical L. complanatum is a more northern plant and, as so often in similar cases, ranges across the American and Eura- sian continents. There are interesting possibilities, here, but though American investigators of Lyco podium pro- thallia have been at the pains of distinguishing the com- paratively unimportant and possibly merely ecological variety dendroideum of L. obscurum, none of them has thought it worth while to indicate which of the two ele- ments of L. complanatum he had, or whether prothallia of the American plant showed any differences from those of the European. It is true that Spessard's drawing (Bot. Gaz. 63: 71, 1917) shows no obvious difference; but in northern Michigan, where he worked, either typi- cal form or variety might occur, and there is no telling which he had. 4 The seven stations were, roughly, of three types — mixed hardwoods on a slope above a body of water, small depressions in dry mixed hardwoods, and a hemlock grove. In one case only was there any considerable de- posit of leaves ; in none was there any herbaceous growth. In all the soil was sandy and well-drained, with consid- erable humus. It was found in the laboratory that pro- thallia would not live long in undrained soil, though well developed sporelings survived. The authors conclude that though "old plants are frequently found in swampy places, the indications are they did not start there." Allowing for the power of travelling presumably pos- Fragrant Massachusetts Ferx 21 sessed by the creeping stems of these three species, it may well be that a sufficiently old plant might be found at some distance from its point of origin; but the present writer cannot recall having seen specimens of any of the three (with the possible exception of L. obscurum) in really swampy places. Perhaps the readers of the Jour- nal can throw light on the habitat of these plants, as they did on that of Ophioglossum; they are hereby in- vited to do it. 2 Dr. Otto Degener reports four other stations in Massa- chusetts for prothallia of "L. complanatum" and L. ob- scuriun, var. dendroideuni. The latter were found in great numbers — three hundred in one small area — and are described in detail and illustrated. Various inter- esting facts about the prothallia of both are recorded. Sporelings, for instance, are produced equally well whether the surface of the prothallium which bears the reproductive organs is vertical or horizontal, or, in the latter ease, on the upper or under side. Young plants of L. complanatum [var. flab eUi forme] have the leaves scale-like at first, then awl-shaped, up to 4 mm. long, and arranged in whorls of three about 2 mm ;ipart. Only- after the stem has begun to branch do the leaves become four-ranked and the lateral ones developed so as to give the characteristic flattened effect to the branches." C. A. W. Fragrant Massachusetts Fern. — Last Ai on a visit to Marion, Mass., at the head of Buzzard's Bay, I passed one day a bit of woodland, of mixed trees, where, as far as the eye could reach, the underbrush had 2 Stoker, Alma G., and Starr, Anna. If, Lycopodium prothallia in western Massachusetts. Bot. Gaz. 77: 80-88. March, 1924. 3 Degener, Otto. Four new stations of L}> opoilium prothallia. Bot. Gaz. 77: 89-95. Pis. XI-XIII, 2 figs. March, 1024. 22 American Fern Journal been entirely supplanted by a luxuriant growth of cin- namon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea). Nestling under the larger fronds I noticed some much smaller ones which superficially resembled the half -grown leaves of the sen- sitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis). I was quickly over the low stone wall which separated the wood from the road, and a short search revealed several plants with long, slender, contracted fertile fronds w T hich confirmed my hope that I had at last found the net-veined chain fern (Woodwardia areolata) with which I was until now familiar only through pressed specimens. Nearby and scattered through the wood I found numerous plants of the Massachusetts fern (Aspidhim simiriatum) fronds of which and of other ferns I gath- ered to place in water, and that evening my room was filled with a delicate, spicy fragrance. Wishing to make certain that this fragrance emanated from the Massachu- setts fern, I returned to the wood a few 7 days later and gathered a quantity of it, noticing as I did so that almost every frond was delicately sweet, and this, it seemed to me, was particularly noticeable in the immature fertile fronds. The ground in which they grew, though not swampy, was so soft and spongy with moss and partly decayed pine needles that several roots were easily pulled up, and these I took with me later to Maine and planted them there in a mixed fern bed, where, if they live, they will be under observation. As Mr. Weatherby tells me that a fragrant form of the Massachusetts fern seems not hitherto to have been reported, I am glad to pass on this bit of information to the readers of the Fern Journal. — F. E. Corne, Cam- bridge, Mass. The Spinulose Ferns of Tim Pond, Maine.— The third to the twelfth, inclusive, of September, 1924, were Spinulose Ferns of Tim Pond 23 spent by the writer botanizing and trout-fishing at a beautiful little mountain lake (misnamed "Tim Pond") down in Maine, less than twenty miles from the Cana- dian border. Along the higher parts of the rough and rocky trail leading from the town of Stratton to "Tim," as well as in the more open parts of the woodlands and along the paths around the lake, at an elevation of about two thousand feet above sea-level, the broad-leaf spinu- lose fern, Dryopteris dilatata, var. americana, is abun- dant. It grows especially large and luxuriantly amongst the fallen, well rotted tree trunks, where the soil is saturated with moisture. From its prostrate rootstocks spring buds that soon develop into good sized plants, spreading in all directions and thus forming large colonies. Scattered about are many thrifty plants of the ever- green spinulose fern, Dryopteris intermedia, their nar- rower, dark olive fronds contrasting pleasingly with the much broader and lighter, yellowish-green leaves of var. americana. It is only when we see these two species growing together that we realize how very different they are in color. -At the time of my visit light frosts had already left their mark on the var. americana in the less sheltered spots, turning more or less of each frond to a dull, homely broAvnish-olive. The largest and finest patches of these ferns were found in the half shade of the deciduous trees, especially beneath the yellow birches, rather than in the denser shade of the spruce and fir balsams. Fronds of var. americana more than forty-six inches long and from eighteen to twenty inches broad were not uncommon. A few specimens of typical Dryopteris spinulosa were found in swamps adjacent to the lake. — Edward 11. Clarkson, Neivburyport, Mass. 24 American Fern Journal American Fern Society Franklin Tanner Pember, a member of the Society since 1908, died at his home in Granville, N. Y., March 6, 1924. He was born in South Granville, November 2, 1841, and educated in the schools there and at the Fort Edward Institute. For a number of years he was a dealer in furs in New York City ; later he acquired large holdings of real estate in California and was associated with various business and public enterprises in Gran- ville. From a boy he was deeply interested in natural history. He read widely in this as in other subjects and was the friend and co-worker of several well-known naturalists. He was a great traveler, having visited every state in the Union, most of the countries of Europe, Egypt, and Palestine. He used his journeys partly to broaden his knowledge of his favorite subjects and in gathering specimens. These have found a permanent and worthy resting place in the library and museum which he gave to the town of Granville. To this institu- tion he and Mrs. Pember (born Ellen J. L. Wood) gave not only money, but much devoted and intelligent atten- tion. In addition to a sympathetic interest in all its activities, Mr. Pember was untiring in building up the natural history collection, and for fifteen years spent two afternoons of each week in acting as host and instructor to all who visited it. Miss Mina Keyes Goddard, a member of the Society since 1897, died at Lexington, Mass., her birth-place and for most of her life her residence, August 30, 1924. She was born November 2, 1864. After completing the course at Miss Nash's school in Lexington, she studied drawing and painting in Boston and later taught draw- ing at Dean Academy, Franklin, Mass. Her health American Fern Society 25 breaking down, she gave up teaching, and from that time turned her attention especially to botany. For a long time, she spent some weeks annually with her friend, Mrs. Nellie F. Flynn of Burlington, Vermont, collecting and mounting specimens for Mrs. Flynn 's large herbarium. After the latter 's death in 1922, Miss Goddard continued to mount specimens left by her, hop- ing to complete the work on her friend's collection, which is to be given to the University of Vermont ; but death came too soon. Outside of botany, Miss Goddard 's main interest was in local history. She had done excellent work on Hud- son's revised history of Lexington, and was Curator of the Lexington Historical Society and Custodian of the Hancock-Clarke house — which stood, facing Lexington * Green, when the first fighting of the Revolution took place there and is now preserved by the Historical So- ciety as a public monument and museum. New Members: Bond, Miss Nancy K., 201 East 7th St., Superior, Wis. Durand, Herbert, Crow's Nest Wood, Bronxville, Westchester County, N. Y. Hunter, Dr. Mabel E., Glennville High School, Cleveland, Ohio. Knappen, Mrs. Theodore M., 2925 Tilden Ave., N. W., Wash- ington, D. C. Leske, E. J., 459 Grand Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio. Richardson, H. H., 10 State St., Boston, Mass. Changes of address and corrections in the recently is- sued list of members : Benfield, Rev. W. A., Link's Grove, W. Va. Cornman, Mrs. L. E,, 2852 Adams Ave., San Diego, Cal. Graves, E. W., Stockport, Iowa. Halsey, Miss Alice, 3941 Grand Central Terminal, New York City. Heermance, Miss Laura W.; not llurmace as in the list. Humphries, George S., 17 Battery Place, New York City. 26 American Fern Journal Monroe, Will S., R. D. No. 3, Waterbury, Vt. (after April 1, 1925). Noyes, Miss Elmira E., P. O. Box 326, Portsmouth, Va. Petty, Prof. W. J., 708 Central Ave., Ocean City, N. J. Scott, Mrs. Willard, 1651 Beacon St., Brookline, Mass. Mr. 0. A. Farwell, whose correct address is 271 Smith Ave., Detroit, Mich, (not South Ave., as in the list), has become a life member. Mr. E. W. Graves, Stockport, Iowa, has a few speci- mens of Pellaea glabella, which he offers to members for postage. lie would also like to exchange Lycopodium carol inianum or L. pinnatum for L. obscuriim. The Secretary has received a communication from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, asking if our Society intends to hold a meeting during the next convocation week of the association at Kansas City, Mo, December 28, 1925 to January 2, 1926. Will any of our members who think they could attend a meet- ing at that time and place please so notify the Secretary? The officers will attempt to arrange for a meeting if they have assurance that a few, at least, are likely to be there ; otherwise, the attempt would hardly be worth while. Report of the President for 1924 The year just closed has been what may be termed a normal one for the American Fern Society. Our mem- bership, which remains at about 300, and the varied contents of the Journal afford a fair index of our well- being as a flourishing organization. As has so often been pointed out, much more in the way of publication and constructive work could be undertaken with a greater American Fern Society 27 number of members, but even with our present member- ship a great deal of instructive and entertaining matter is being published and the amount of new information recorded is highly creditable. In the way of regional data the more interesting new records relate to Arkansas, a state which has been much neglected botanically. An example of the interest that attaches to a study of the commoner species is found in the attention directed to Dryopteris spinulosa and closely related forms. This is a subject in which valuable assistance can be extended by most members of the Society through personal study. The same might be said of the ternate Botryehiums, among other groups, though here the criteria are less satisfactory. One pleasant feature of the year was a stated meeting of the Society held in Washington, January 1, 1925, during Convocation Week, as reported elsewhere in the Journal. Unfortunately a snowstorm and further threatening weather prevented the scheduled field trip along the Potomac. Of greater interest, perhaps, would be meetings in mid-summer, held whenever members of a given region could come together for the purpose. Several such gatherings have taken place during the past 20 years, and it will be agreed that they are not only pleasant but extremely helpful. Can they not be held more frequently? During the early days of the Society, when members were few, correspondence was more general than now and every one became more or less "acquainted/ 7 A return to this practice would be worth while, and would doubtless lead to small summer "convocations," the benefits of which are too obvious to need mention. As for the future, let us keep on in our effort to obtain new members and let us help each other and our faith- 28 American Fern Journal ful editors by sending in our best results for publication in the Journal. We know we have chosen for study the most interesting subject in the world, but very com- monly we fail to be as inquisitive about it as we ought. Let us make the coming year count ! William R. Maxon, President. Report of the Secretary for 1924 From the standpoint of the Secretary there is little to report, beyond the changes in membership, noted already in the Fern Journal. The revised List of Members, prepared for publication in November, showed 300 names. Two more were added during the closing months of the year. The total, 302, is, however, because of the thorough revision of the lists for the printed List of Members, smaller than the number reported last year, 310, although fourteen new members were added in 1924. Death has claimed among others, two of our more notable members, Prince Roland Bonaparte, of Paris, France, and Rev. John Davis, who was Vice-President of the Society for 1915 and 1916. Mr. Oliver A. Farwell has been elected a Life Member. There were no meetings of the Society during the year though the tide turned on New Year's Day, 1925, with the meeting at Washington, D. C, in connection with the meeting of the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science. The loaning copies of the Fern Journal have been but slightly used this year. Do the members of the Society know that such can be secured from the Secre- tary for the asking and postage costs? Trenton, February 27, 192~>. C. S. Lewis, Secretary. American Fern Society 29 Report of the Treasurer for 1924 Received On hand January 1 $ 450.54 Membership Dues: 1922 . $ 10 - 50 1923 39.50 2924 343.58 2925 15.00 1926-1927 3 - 00 Total $411.58 Subscriptions to the Journal 78.96 Sales back numbers, to Emergency Fund 40.40 Gifts to Illustrating Fund 22.18 For extra printing in Journal 15.50 For reprints from Journal 16.70 Advertising 4.18 Interest '. 16 - 00 Collection fees 30 Total receipts 605.80 Grand total ^ 056M Paid Out Treasurer 7 s expenses $ ^ „0 Secretary ? s expenses °. ' *? Curator 's expenses ^'^ Council Order No. 49: Paid out of the Reprint Fund 25 - 00 Council Order No. 50: Transferred, Emergency Fund to Permanent Fund 100.00 Council Order No. 52 : Postage, notices for Jan- uary meeting ^* 5 Membership List: Budget allowance $ 20.00 Council Order 53 8.25 28.25 Journal Expenses: Printing four numbers $25/ .00 Printing extra pages 8.35 Printing index, etc ■•■ 12.-0 Printing title page and contents 9.00 Illustrating — budget 15.00 Postage and exp 26.80 Insurance on back nos. 10.00 Budget expense $338.35 Illustrating Fund 39 -jjj| Special gift (printing) 15.50 Total expense of Journal $393.4.) 393.45 30 American Fern Journal Paid for reprints afterwards returned 16.66 Total paid out 593.25 Balance on hand $ 463.09 This balance is made up as follows : Emergency Fund On hand January 1 $146.88 Received 40.40 $187.28 Transferred to Permanent Fund C. O. No. 50 100.00 Balance $ 87.28 Illustrating Fund On hand January 1 $ 18.43 Received 22.18 $ 40.61 Paid for Journal 39.60 Balance 1.01 Special Reprint Fund On hand January 1 $ 13.07 Received C. O. No. 49 11.93 ^ $ 25.00 Paid R. C. Benedict C. O. No. 49 25.00 Special order held for catalogue of Herbarium 25.00 General Fund from dues, subscriptions, etc 349.80 $463.09 THE SPECIAL PERMANENT FUND established by Life Memberships and transfers from Emergency Fund (which comes from the sale of back numbers of the Journal), now stands as follows: On hand January 1 $423.16 Life membership received 25.00 Transferred from emergency Interest received 100.00 24.61 Balance on hand ....$572.77 American Fern Society 31 There are no unpaid bills. I am very grateful to the members of the Society for their assistance in the conduct of this office. Respectfully submitted, Jay G. Underwood, Treasurer. Report of the Editors for 1924 Partly because of a change of printers, the first num- ber of the Journal for the year was very late, but, with the aid of good and prompt service on the part of the new printers, the other numbers were issued near the close of their respective quarters. Copy has come in slowly, but in just sufficient quantity and in good variety and quality. Through the generosity of Mr. E. H. Clark- son and of others who have contributed to the illustrat- ing fund in previous years, we have been able to publish eight full-page plates and two text-figures. We $1 but with the feeling that the rest of it has been well spent. The Journal is to be congratulated on the interest of its contributors, which enables us to keep it up to its present level. Even so, it is not easy for us to serve fully the various tastes and needs of the different members of the Society. What we hope to accomplish is that each number shall contain something of interest for each of our readers. Doubtless we do not always attain this, but we try for it. This year we have been particularly fortunate in two respects, first, in getting Miss Corne's articles on ferns in their many aspects, and second, in the beginning of Dr. Maxon's series of descriptions of new tropical American ferns. It may seem strange, but it is a fact that such general, non-technical, and readable articles as the former are about the hardest to get ; and 32 American Fern Journal the latter will add much to the scientific value of the Journal. At the date of publication of this report we have a comfortable supply of copy on hand, but not so much that we do not want more. We heartily second Mr. McColl's invitation to the members to tell, in the Journal, of their unusual finds. R. C. Benedict, E. J. Winslow, C. A. WE AT HERB Y, Editors. The Washington Meeting of the Society A small but interested group of the members of the Society and others gathered in the Central High School, Washington, on New Year 's Day, 1925, for a mid-winter meeting in connection with the Washington meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Maxon presided and, after a few words of welcome, presented "Some Curious Ferns." He literally did that, for he showed us a series of sheets from the United States National Herbarium, which he described with running comments. Among the speci- mens displayed, some represented unusual foreign erenera were of interest as representing groups not found within our limits, differing in many important respects from our familiar species. Some of the former will be illus- trated in a proposed series of short papers. Dr. Edgar T. Wherry, of the Department of Agricul- ture, submitted a paper summarizing the results of his study of the Appalachian Aspleniums, in which he aimed to trace their origin and development. Dr. A\ berry's paper will be published in the next number of the Journal. American Fern Society 33 Dr. R. C. Benedict, of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, carried us through the interesting but rather compli- cated story of thfe development of the variations of the Boston Fern, illustrating his talk with a large series of fronds of the ferns themselves. Of greatest interest was a series of utterly diverse plants, representing the pro- geny of a cultivated varietal form with fertile spores, recently discovered. Some of the results of this more recent investigation will shortly be published. Miss Mabel R. Hunter, of the Department of Botany, Syracuse University, described the characteristic habitat of the Hart's-tongue {PhyllUis scolopendrium) in cen- tral New York. The soil is distinctly alkaline, and the ferns grow either in loose talus or on the slopes of the ravines, generally under the protection of cliffs. They love cool spots and along with the Bulblet Bladder Fern favor places where the butternut, maples, basswoods, and hemlocks grow. General discussion followed, with mention of the Tennessee habitat, where the fern grows in sticky clayey soil. Apropos of efforts now being made to establish the Hart's-tongue in new localities it was pointed out that the plants should be set out on cool shady slopes having a deep, porous woods-soil. Dr. Paul Bartsch, of the Smithsonian Institution, gave a delightful account of the ferns occurring in the neigh- borhood of Washington, illustrated by a series of lantern slides. Prof A. II. Wright, of Cornell University, -polo- briefly upon the smaller Botrychiums and urged a more careful study of this whole group of ferns. A heavy snowfall the night before prevented the field trip which had been planned, but in spite of tins dis- appointment to the out-of-town members of th. Society Washington 'O and proved thoroughly enjoyable. C. s. Lewis, Secretary. THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB MEMBERSHIP Including Bulletin, Memoirs, and Torreya, $5.00 a year PUBLICATIONS Bulletin* Monthly, established 1870. Price, $4.00 a year; eingle numbers 40 cents. Of former volumes, only 24-47 can be bapplied separately. Manuscripts intended for publication in the Bulletin should be addressed to Tracy E. Hazen, Editor, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York City. Torreya. Bi-monthly, established 1901. Price, $1.00 a year. Manuscripts intended for publication in Torreya should be addressed to George T. Hastings, Editor, Bobbins Place, Yonkers, N. Y. Memoirs. Occasional, established 1889. Price, $3.00 a volume. Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteridophyta within 100 miles of New York City, 1888. Price, $1.00. Subscriptions and other business communications should Ys addressed to the Treasurer, Dr. B. C. Benedict, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y. FOR ALL PLANT STUDENTS There is only one magazine of popular Botany in America. It began with the present century and is still un- teehnical. It has published nearly 4,000 botanical articles with- out a single duplication. It is edited by the Founder of the American Fern Society. Quarterly, 48 pages, $1.50 Sample copy £5 cents The American Botanist, Joliet, 111, (We offer vols. 8-20, Fern Bulletin, for t8 postpaid.) The Science Press Printin Printers of Scientific and Educational Journals, Monographs A. K. LRBAN. am J Books Gen. Manager Information furnished, and detailed estimates submitted Lime and Green Sts., Lancaster, Penna. THE BRYOLOGIST PUBUSHED BY THE SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY The only magazine in English wholly devoted to Mosses, Hepaties, and Lichens. Bimonthly ; illustrated ; for the beginner as well as for the professional Yearly subscrip- tion in the United States, $1.25. Twenty-five cents addi- tional gives membership in the SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY, with free services of Curators for beginners. ADDRESS A. TENNYSON BEALS 2929 Broadway NEW YORK CITY This Free Catalog Lists Equipment Designed by • :* tanists Collecting Cases Fern Trowels Plant Presses Hand Lenses Field Picks Felt Driers Genus Covers Mounting Papers WAVERLEY Write to-day for Catalog F 91 AL SUPPLY CO MASS., U. S. A. Vol. 15. April-June, 1925 No. 2 Amrrtran Jfarn A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO FERNS PuMfsbed fey the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY » EDITORS R. C. BENEDICT E. J. WINSLOW C A. WEATHERBY & CONTENTS Main Lines of Evolution in Equisetum— U J. H. B -haff.vbb 36 Proper Use of the Name Filix K. K. Mackenzie 40 The Appalachian Aspleniums ....... E T. Wherry 47 New Tropical American Ferns— II ..... W. ft. Majcox 54 Ferns— Facts and Fancies About Them— V F. E. Com 57 Recent Fern Literature... 62 Note on the HartVtongue in New York 65 Abnormal Fruiting of the Cinnamon Fern W. A. Mcrrill 6tf American Fern Society .. * 67 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION. $1.25; FOREIGN. $I.H AUBURNDALE. MASS. "* ■■*** M ^v *\ Bnfi»r»Hf us ttfond * . imdfr fh* A« r of Murrb 3. J • **;* ^ # - , for mailing «t &}><*« i.i! rat*- <»f fHiftfttgv provide! for In atrtion pB» Act of October 3. HIT, Hiithonz«>d on July 8, IMK V ®h? Amertran $tm £>otuti$ (Ecunril for 1925 Officers for the year William R. Maxon, Washington, I>. (\ - - President Mas. Carlotta C. Hall, Berkeley, Calif. - - Vice-president Rsv. r EATHERBY - - - - East Hartford, Conn. An illustrated quarterly devoted to the general study of ferns. Subscription, $1.25 per year, foreign, 10 cents extra; sent free to members of the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY (annual dues, $1.50; life membership, $25.00). Extracted reprints, if ordered in advance, will be furnished authors at cost. They should be ordered when proof is returned. Volume I, six numbers, $2.00 ; other volumes $1.25 each. Single back numbers 35 cents each. Volume I, number 1 cannot be sup- plied except with complete volume. Ten per cent, discount on orders of six volumes or more. Brooklyn be addressed to R. C. Benedict Subscriptions, orders for back numbers, and communications should be addressed to E. J. Win dale, Mass. CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM L. S. Hopkins - - Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Mo. gular loan department is maintained in connection with the Society herbarium. Members may borrow specimens from it at any time, the borrower paying all postal or express charges The pages of the Journal are also open to members who wish tc arrange exchanges; a membership list is published to further assisl those interested in obtaining specimens from different localities Amrriran iFrrtt Journal Vol. 1") APR1L-JI XE, 1925 No. 2 Main Lines of Evolution in Equisetum -II John H. Schaffner From the primitive xylochaetum-giganteum type, with its large, perennial, branched stems, banded stomata, and apiculate cones, another prominent branch or group is derived, the Equiseta aestivalis. The stems are annual with prominent whorls of branches and the cones are without a point. The stomata are scattered in broad bands and the sheaths are rather primitive with per- sistent teeth. Equisetum fluviatile L. is the lowest soecies of this group, followed by the much smaller E. palustre L. in which the whorls of branches are much less prominent and often irregular, frequently appear- ing bushy. The cavities in the internodes of the latter species are much reduced and the sheaths are ampliated, a condition probably retained from the ancestral type. The large branches at least, of the whorls are hollow. These species also show a more or le prominent ped- uncle at the base of the cone, which is true of all the higher Equiseta. The other two members of the group, E. diffusum D. Don and E. bogotnise H. B. K., are still more extreme, having solid branches, and in the latter species the ridges of the main stem are only four to nine. E. diffusum often has solid, main items but sometimes [Vol. 15, No. 1 of the Journal, pages 1-34, plates 1 and 2 was issued May 26, 1!» .] 35 36 American Ferx Journal they are still hollow, while in E. bogotense, the small main stems are solid. As intimated above, there is a paralleled development to that which has taken place in E. variegatum and E. scirpoides. The last group, the Equiseta luterophyadka, are ap- parently a direct offshoot from the main line which ended in the four modern species of the Equiseta aestivalia. Like them, they have annual stems and the cones are without points. The sheaths of the main stem are also more or less ampliated. The main evolutionary develop- ment consists in the progressive specialization of the fertile shoot, giving a greater and greater dimorphism with the sterile shoot. The four species are E. silvati- cum L., E. pratense Ehrh., E. telmateia Ehrh., and E. arvense L. All have solid branches having repeated the specialization developed in the higher Equiseta aesti- valia. In all four species there is a decided loss of chlorophyll in the internodes and usually also in the sheaths of the fertile shoot ; and the whorls of branches are disappearing. In the first two species the tips wither after anthesis but in the meantime whorls of green branches begin to develop and the fertile shoot continues as a photosynthetic system. E. silvaticum has a prominent specialization in that the branches are usually abundantly compounded, which is a rather rare condition in other species. The two most extreme species are E. telmateia and E. arvense, both of which show the greatest dimorphism between the sporophyll-bearing .shoot and the sterile shoot. The very short-lived fertile shoot has not only lost its chlorophyll or the most of it, tut also its branching habit, thus repeating the condition so prominently evolved in the Equiseta hiberna and Equiseta ambigua, while the sterile shoot retains the prominent system of whorled branches. Both the hered- Lines of Evolution in Equisetum 37 itary factors and the response of these factors to internal functional states as well as to the external environment in the expression of morphological characters are very complex. The evolutionary progression in the fertile shoot is shown by comparing E. fluviatile with E. sil- vaticum and E. pratense as intermediate types and with E. telmateia and E. arvense as the extreme culmination. E. telmateia has highly specialized branches and branch sheath teeth, which have double keels and it is much larger than E. arvense. The latter is appropriately- placed as the culmination type because it shows the same tendencies of reduction in size as do the extreme species of Equiseta hiberna and Equiseta aestivalia. There is also a tendency in these most highly specialized fertile shoots to eliminate the stomata and in E. telmateia the stomata are sometimes entirely lacking on the inter- nodes. It is interesting to note, therefore, that in these highly evolved horsetails the aerial sboots show the same kind of progressive evolutionary differentiation as do the leaves of some ferns and the seed plants. There is a progressive series from the condition where there is no difference between the vegetative characters of sporo- phylls and foliage leaves to the extreme condition of dimorphism in which the sporophyll loses its photosyn- thetic activity and green color almost entirely as well as other, morphological characters possessed by the foliage leaf. Examples of such progressive differentiation series are seen in passing from Todea barbara through Osmunda claytoniana to Osmunda cinnamomea, or from Polypodium virginianum or Dnjopteris marginal* through Polystickum acrotiichoide* to Onoclea sevsibilis, where the >ame type of dimorphism appears between the sporophylls and foliage leaves as is so prominent in the Gymnosperms and the Anthophyta. American Fern Journal Volume 9, Plate 3 y ■ / - r - .' ..' (Xrv~*J}Jl£. ZAtSTWlLU I . A^BIgi^ -fun g*fco n i ^CJJlPOl H£aiiuni fifon >-anw«.at ? Lines of Evolution in Equisetum Lines of Evolution in Equisetum 39 Comparing' E. arvense with the primitive E. xylo- chaetum or E. giganteum, therefore, shows the following six progressive evolutionary advances in fundamental characters: (1) The aerial shoot passes from the peren- nial to the annual condition ; (2) the fertile shoot changes from an abundantly branched condition to a specialized stem without branches; (3) the green fertile shoot is differentiated until it possesses brown internodes, sheaths, and cones through the loss of all or nearly all its chlorophyll; (4) the fertile shoot is very short-lived, soon withering, as compared with the sterile shoot; (5) the cone is more definitely determinate and does not develop a point at the tip; (6) the cone evolves from the condition in which it is nearly sessile or very short -stalked in the highest vegetative sheath to an advanced condi- tion with a rather prominent peduncle having a special- ized, reduced, calyx-like sheath just below the lowest whorl of sporophylls. This structure may represent a whorl of sterilized sporophylls. If so, it would have to be regarded as a true perianth. It is perfectly plain, therefore, that from an evolutionary point of view, Equisetum telmateia and E. arvense are the highest living horsetails and E. xylochaetum and E. giganteum the lowest. In agreement with the relationships and series out- lined above, the phyletic classification can be shown graphically as a branching system as in the accompany- ing diagram. Columbus, Ohio. •10 American Fern Journal Proper Use of the Name Filix Kenneth K. Mackenzie The older writers on plants had but a few fern names. Of the names used by them the name Filix was probably the most popular. It was ultimately used for many species of ferns, especially after European botanists be- gan to study tropical ferns. In the early days, how- ever, its use was very largely, if not entirely, confined to two very common and well known European ferns. One of these ferns was Filix mas or the male fern, and f> And here let me say that the female fern of all writers before the time of Linnaeus as far as I have seen was the bracken (Pteris aquilina), and not the fern which is now called the female fern (Athyriuni fil ix-foemina) . The very early writers did not have ideas of genera, and genera divided into species, as a basis of nomencla- ture developed as it is now. When we speak of an oak we are not thinking of classification, but we are merely identifying an organism. Similarly when the early writers named a plant in Latin they were merely identi- fying plants, and at first were not attempting to build up a system of classification. As time went on and a system of classification became more and more necessary the old Latin names of plants naturally came into use as the names for genera and species. But side by side with their use for this pur- pose, their use in the old popular sense continued. For example, when a writer referred to and described either (1) the male fern or Filix mas or (2) the female fern or Filix foemina, it did not necessarily mean at all that he was attempting to describe a genus Filix mas or a genus Filix foemina. He was in fact merelv giving Use op the Name Filix 41 vernacular names in English and also in Latin. This kind of use persisted for centuries, especially in popular or medical works. And one should never think of treat- ing a name so used as a technical generic use. The point is of present practical importance when later on I will come to deal with the name Filix as used in Hill's Family Herbal published in 1755. The male and female ferns were favorite subjects for study and illustration by the early writers, and one can find a number of illustrations of both species. The earliest I have seen are in that marvelous work of Fuchs, De historia stirpium, published in 1542. He gives ac- curate and beautiful large-size illustrations of both Filix mas (p. 595) and Filix foemina (p. 596). The copy of the work I saw had the illustrations colored by hand, and considering the time it was published and the previous state of botanical knowledge it is certainly to be regarded as one of the great botanical works of all time. It is a pleasure to know that the beautiful genus Fuchsia i named after its author. Matthiolus Commentarii . . . Dioscorides (p. 640, Ital- ian edition of 1560; p. 1290-1, edition of 1565) likewise illustrated the same two ferns under the same names; as also did Lobel (Stirpium Icones >V1. 1581) ; Dalechamps (Hist. Generalis 1222. 1587) ; Tabernaemont;mus (Kreu- terbuch 2: 500, 1613; and p. 1181, edition of 1687); Dodonaeus (Pemptades 462. 1616) ; and Parkinson (Theatrum Botanicum 1031. 1640). Tournefort (Elem. Bot. 428, pi. 310-313, 1694; Institutiones p. 536, pi. 310- 313, 1719) also lists them both, although his plates do not illustrate the bracken. A considerable number of other authors of the period could be cited to the same effect, but the above will be sufficient to show how universally the names were in use by many generations of scientists. 42 American Fern Journal When, however, it came to Linnaeus we find him giv- ing up the name Filix altogether, and applying to the bracken the name Pteris, while the male fern went into his all-embracing conception of Poly podium (Hort. Cliff. 473, 475, 1737; Gen. PL 780, 784, 1737). And this is the arrangement which he kept to in the works which form the starting point for present day nomenclature (Sp. PL 1073, 1090 (1753); Gen. PL Ed. 5, 484, 485 (1754). After 1753 the name Filix was used by authors as follows : The first use of the name Filix after 1753 appears to have been by Hill in his Family Herbal (p. 171) pub- lished in 1755. This was a non-scientific work in which Hill gave no generic descriptions. It was a work in which Hill used the names male fern or Filix mas and female fern or Filix foemina in the vernacular sense, just as they had been in use for centuries before. He had no intention whatever of using the name Filix as a generic name. * In fact Hill had ideas of his own about generic names. He was very fond of a peculiar system of double head- ers ; and so in his more formal work, the British Herbal (which appeared the next year, 1756, and which must have been in largely completed condition when his Family Herbal was issued) we find two genera char- acterized by him, as such, one called Filix mas (p. 527), and another FUix foemina (p. 528), and under both of the genera so named by him he gave various species. I do not see the slightest justification for the statement of Mr. 0. A. Farwell that "The names FUix mas and FUix foemina as here (Family Herbal) used by Hill must be considered as true binomials and not in any Use of the Name Filix 4:i sense as generic names as employed by him a year later in the British Herbal" (Rep. Mich. Acad. 18: SI, 1916). And I cannot follow him in using the name Filix on any such basis for the genus called by other scientists Thehj pteris. If Hill had any thoughts of fern genera at all in the Family Herbal he must have had the same two genera in mind as he had a year later /■ genus Filix II The next use of the name Filix was I believe* by Ludwig in 1757. On page 142 of his Institutions he has an analytical key, of which the following words and phrases are in point: "I. Terrestres. A. Herbaceae. IV. Epiphyllospermae folio, b. magis composito. 2. pin- nato, pinnulis a ad neruum usque sectis FILIX." On page 149 Ludwig gives "Filix ramosa, foliolis pin- natis" as a species of Filix. This refers to the bracken. "Filix ramosa" with various additions, was the technical scientific name of the bracken in the old nomenclature, fol yy is part of the Linnaean description of the bracken (Hort. Cliff. 473). As far as I can see Ludwig ? s publication fully complies with all codes of nomenclature, and the name Filix should be regarded as a synonym of Pteris, if Pteris aquUma is taken as the type of the genus Pteris. If Pteris aquiiina is not taken as the type of the genu* Pteris and it is treated as belonging to a distinct genus, the proper name of such genus is FHix and not Pteri- dium Scop. ii r. The next use of the same FUix was by A damn (Fam. PL 2: 20, 557) in 1763. His description of Filix as I 44 American Fern Journal read it is "Paquets de fleurs ronds, disposes sur 2 rangs sous chaque division des feuilles. Enveloppe 1 valve. Globules environnes d'un anneau elastique." (p. 20.) On page 19 he says (here somewhat freely translated) : "In studying the various points to be considered, one is convinced that the male fern, Filix non ramosa, the Filix montana argute denticulata, and some others which are confounded with the genus Poly podium, and the Filix mollis glabra, which has been made a kind of Acrosti- cum, form a genus distinguished from all others. Like- wise the Filix baccifera and the Filix minor non ramosa. of which two species of Polypodium have been made, form one special genus. The Polypodium angustifolium folio vario, and some others are mingled in the order of Osmondes; the Acrosticum and the Scolopendrium or Lingua cervina ought to be placed in the same genus. The Filix lusitanica Polypodii radice, which has been made a kind of Polypodium is at least very near to the genus Adiantum; finally the Polypodium and the Lon- chitis are two species of the same genus; the Ceterach, the Trichomanes and the Ruta Muraria are only but one genus. ' f On page 558 we find the following : "Filix Fuchs. Page 20. Pteris Diosc. Pterineon Diosk. Anasforon Diosc. Dasuklonon Dios. Fanaria Rom. Laculla Rom. Osmundula Louie. Filix baccifera Corn. 5. Mor. s. 14 t. 3 f . 10 • Fougere Gall." The figures of Cornut and of Morison are both excel- lent figures of Cyst opt en's bulb if era, and the description Use of the Name Filix 45 of Filix by Adanson applies to this species. The lan- guage quoted from page 19 also shows that he had this species directly in mind. On the other hand in the latter part of his work Adanson says he took the name Filix from Fuchs. As I have already stated near the com- mencement of this paper Fuchs had but two species Filix mas and Filix foemina. Adanson (p. 20 and 551) treated Filix mas as belonging to the genus Dryopteris f ens thus not leaving any of the genus as treated by Fuchs. Under this confused state of facts we will probably most nearly accord with what Adanson had in mind should we eliminate his reference to Fuchs, and treat f Ludwig to be used. In conclusion let me refer any who object to the use of the name Filix at all to the words of probably the greatest authority on old botanical matters. I refer to Haller, the author among other great works of Biblio- theca Botanica, a wonderful source of information about old botanical literature. In keeping up the name Filix in place of the Linnaean Pteris he says (Stirp. Indig. Helv. Inchoata 3: 7. 1768). "Retinemus antiquissimum, & celeberrimum veterum nomen, cum optima classica nomina habeamus, & Filicem ocamus stirpem ejus classis inter Kuropeas speciosis- \ simum y y New York City American Ferx Journal Volume 15, Plate 4 Appalachian Aspleniums Teie Appalachian Aspleniums ' 47 The Appalachian Aspleniums' Edgak T. Wherry The group of rock-inhabiting Aspleniums whose center southern tains is remarkable in thriving in mediacid soils, whereas the majority of other rock-ferns prefer circumneutral (slightly acid to slightly alkaline) habitats. Some specu- lations as to their relationships may accordingly be worthy of record. It is here suggested that this group has originated in part by direct descent from a northern ancestor, and in part by hybridization between this and a southern ancestral stock, as brought out in the dia- gram, 2 plate 4. The species included have all be drawn on the same scale, mostly from actual specimens, and are reproduced about 2/5 their natural sizes; they are as follows : 1. Asplenium ( < amptosorus) rhizophyllum L.a 2. Asplenium pinnatifidum Nutt., form with acute segments. 3. Same as 2, a more frequent and typical form. 4. Asplenium trudelli sp. nov. 5. Same as 4, deeply cut form. 6. Asplenium montanum Willd. 7. Asplenium ruta-muraria L. 8. Asplenium gravesii Maxon, in part a hybrid betw D 3 and 9. !t. Asplenium bradleyi D. C. Eaton, a frequent and typical form. 10. Same as 9, a broader form. 11. Asplenium ebenoides R. R. Scott, in part a hybrid between 1 and 14. 12. Asplenium stotleri sp. nov.. in part a hybrid between 3 and 14. i Presented in abstract at the meeting of the American Fern Society, January 1, 1925. 2 Thanks are "herewith extended to Mrs. C. A. Weatfcerby for her kindness in preparing the drawing for this [date. • CamptotortU is hardly more than a sub-genus of Aspb wium. ■18 American Pern Journal 13. A little known plant, possibly a hybrid between 9 and 14. 14. Asplenium platyneuron (L.) Oakes; 8 pairs of pinnules omitted. 15. Asplenium resiliens Kunze. X. Northern ultimate ancestor. C. Direct ancestor of Camptosorus. R. Direct ancestor of Asplenium ruta-muraria, etc. A. Direct ancestor of the Appalachian Aspleniums. S. Southern ultimate ancestor. Northern ancestor. — Judging from the features of its present-day descendant-, the one ultimate ancestor of the group of ferns under consideration was thick- textured, green-rachised, and pinnately divided. The geographic distribution of these descendants suggests that it lived, prior to the Glacial Period, in far northern Xorth America, and migrated out in various directions, developing into new types as it went, as indicated by the arrows at the top of the diagram, extending out from"N." In the region from which many species of plants spread to both eastern North America and eastern Asia, its lobes coalesced, resulting in the entire frond-outline with network of veins characteristic of the sub-genus Camptosorus (indicated by C in the diagram). In the region of dispersal of plants to western North America and Europe, on the other hand, the evolution was in the opposite direction, as shown in the highly dissected Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. One descendant from this stock, Asplenium ruta-muraria, is exceptional in occur- ring both in Europe and eastern North America ; but as it is so familiar to students of the latter region, it is included in the diagram. Its initial "R" has been used to designate the ancestor of this group. All of the plants thus far discussed are circumneutral- soil species, and undoubtedly their ancestors showed in The Appalachian Aspleniums 4!> the main similar preferences. But there was evidently another offshoot from the ultimate ancestor which devel- oped in a region from which plants could migrate into the southern Appalachians, and which became so changed in physiology as to prefer rather highly acid soils; this is marked in the diagram by an A, which may be taken as an abbreviation either of acid or of Appalachian (or both). It was from this stock that the species shown in the upper and interior part of the diagram are believed to have been largely derived. The coming of the Glacial Period resulted in the ex- termination of the northern ancestors and no doubt many of their descendants, but such of these as chanced to migrate south of the ice limits have been preserved to the present day. Descendants of acid-soil ancestor. — The Lobed Spleenwort, Asplenium pinnatifidum, is a markedly variable species, but only two of its forms have been introduced here; though most typically pinnatifid with rounded divisions (fig. 3), it sometimes develops acute segment-tips, as in specimens from Key's Perry, Jeffer- son County, West Virginia (fig. 2), and again tends to become sab-pinnate at the base. The latter mode of variation occasionally proceeds to such an extent thai the resulting plant is entirely different in aspect from A. pinnatifidum proper, being in fact equally close to A. montanum, and running down in the average key to the latter, so that its description as an independent species seems justified: Asplenium trudelli sp. now — Figure- 4 and f>, plate I. Not heretofore distinguished from A. pinnatifidum, bul differing in being pinnate through about half its length, the deltoid-ovate to ovate-lanceolate pinnules being: rather widely spaced and slender-stalked, with their mar- 50 American Fern Journal ■ gins sharply toothed or even pinnatifid, ranging between the extremes shown in the two figures. Raehis green, slender below, winged above; stipe green, except at its point of attachment to the rootstock, where brown. Veining and pale brown sori as in typical A. pinnati- fidum and A. montayium* Possibly in part the result of hybridization between these species, but considered to be chiefly another descendant from their common ancestor (A in diagram). It is abundant and obviously self- perpetuating in the region wdiere it has been studied. As type specimen may be designated one collected by Harry W. Trudell, of Philadelphia, and the writer in July, 1920, growing in mediacid soil on quartzose mica- schist ledges on the south side of the ravine at Cully, just below the McCall's Ferry dam across the Susque- hanna River, in Lancaster Countv, Pennsvlvania, several fronds from which have been deposited in the U. S. National Herbarium. Previous collections of the same plant are represented in the herbarium of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and elsewhere, the chief localities being York Furnace, across the river from the above mentioned locality, and islands nearby; also Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and Winston Co., Ala- bama (Herb. N. Y. Bot. Gard.). It is, moreover, figured at the upper right hand side of the plate of A. pinnati- fidum in Waters" Ferns, reproduced in Tilton's Fern- lovers' Companion. The Mountain Spleenwort, Asplenium montanum (fig. 6), is likewise rather variable in outline, but for the pur- pose of the present discussion only a single average frond has been figured. It is regarded as forming, with the two preceding species, a closely related group ; which of the three is nearest to the ancestral type can not be de- cided. The Wall-rue SDleemvnrt A ruta-murnria ffkr. The Appalachian Asplexiums 51 7), although grouped with it in many treatments of the Aspleniums, is here regarded as more remotely related, as the diagram brings out. ancestors. — The thin-textured dark- H ER N rachised simply pinnate stock of tropical and subtropical regions has evidently also contributed to the Appalachian Aspleniuni assemblage. One of its descendants which reaches as far as Virginia is the Dark-stem Spleenwort, Aspleniuni resiliens (tig. 15) ; this is characterized by it- opposite pinnules, dark brown sori, and preference for circumneutral, calcareous soil. The Ebony or Stiff Spleenwort, A. plahjnotron (fig. 14), has mostly alter- nate pinnules, paler brown rachis and sori, and is ap- parently indifferent as to soil reaction, thriving luxuri- antly in acid decaying wood on the southern Coastal Plain, but also occupying limestone ledges, where the soil is often slightly alkaline. The descendants from this stock show marked ability to hybridise with those from the northern stock already discussed, and most of the rest of the species herein treated give evidence of such hybrid origin, even if remote. Hybrids of northern and southern stocks. — The best known intermediate between the northern and south- ern groups is Aspleniuni cbenoidcs (fig. 11). This usu- ally has the lower half of its rachis brown, like its southern parent, A. platyneuron, and sugg< ts a double rt. v of little fronds of Caniptosorus ranged along this rachis. The fact that it has been produced artificially efearly indicates its hybrid origin, yet it is well-known to have become fertile and self-perpetuating in Alabama, and Mr. Harold W. Pretz has called the writer's atten- tion to the same phenomenon in Lehigh County, Penn- sylvania, So that it may be regarded as having attained the status of an independent species. 52 American Fern Journal In the Fall of 1923 several members of the Wild Flower Preservation Society, Washington D. C. Chap- ter, took a trip to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and were guided by Dr. T. C. Stotler, an amateur botanist of that place, to some rock ledges along the Shenandoah River above Keys' Ferry, where he had noted the occur- rence of various rock ferns. In addition to our finding of several forms of Asplenium pinnatifidum, a small plant of another type of Agplenium was noticed by Mrs. T. M. Knappen, and brought to the writer for identifica- tion. This was recorded as possibly A. gravesii in an article on the ferns of eastern West Vii w recent visit to the locality has led to a new interpretation of it, so that it may here be described as : Asplenium stotleri sp. nov.— Fig. 12. Somewhat re- sembling A. gravesii and A. bradleyi, but differing in having the margins rounded instead of sharply toothed, and in the sori being lighter in color. Fronds reaching a maximum length of 20 centimeters, varying in outline from oblong to ovate-lanceolate, decidedly contracted toward the base, and pinnate with, widely spaced alter- nate to opposite sub-sessile pinnules. Individual pin- nules cut into rounded segments, and suggesting tiny -A- — /A & m im ranged along the rachis (cf. A. ebenoides). Rachis slender below, brown for 1/3 to and green above. Stipe brown and shining. Sori rather light brown, as in A. pinna- tifidum and A. platyneuron, between which it is clearly an intermediate, and presumably at least originally a hybrid. The type specimen was collected by Dr. T. C. Stotler and the writer in mediaeid soil on quartzose mica-schist ledg es just above Keys' Ferry on the Shenandoah River, * Am. Fern J., 13, 104, 1923. pmnatifid 1/2 The Appalachian Aspleniums 53 Jefferson County, West Virginia, in November, 1924, and deposited in the U. S. National Herbarium. The plant is limited to a single cliff, about 20 meters high, but grows at various levels there, apart from any other fern, its presumed parents occurring on adjoining cliffs a few meters away. Young plants are coming up on various ledges upon this cliff, indicating that it, like A. ebenoides, has also become fertile and self-perpetuating, and so worthy of classification as an independent species. The variable species known as Asplenium brudUyi shows relationships to both northern and southern groups in cutting, rachis, and texture, but does not seem to have resulted from the hybridization of any existing species. Its stipe and lower rachis, as well as its sori, are usually rather dark brown in color, indicating a relationship to A. resiliens, but its alternate pinnules and sharply toothed margins are more suggestive of A. platy neuron, so its southern parent may well have been an acid-soil intermediate between these, now extinct. Its broad base, deep cutting, and thick green-rachised terminal portion might have arisen from any of the three northern Appa- lachian Aspleniums already discussed, or from soiue other member of that group which has not survived. It is therefore regarded, and shown in the diagram, as a descendant from a hybrid of undesignated members of the northern and southern stocks. Figure 9 shows its ^nost typical form, and 10 a broad-based variant, but sveral other types could have been introduced. Asplenium gravesii (fig. 8) shows characters in every respect intermediate between A. bradleyi and A. pinrvt- tifidum, and may well have originated as a hybrid be- tween them ; but in its colonies on the lower Susquehanna River, in Pennsylvania, at least, numerous small plants are coming up along the same cliffs on which the older 54 American Fern Journal ones are growing, bearing evidence to its having become fertile and self -perpetuating, as have the other hybrids here described. •Finally, in the herbarium of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia there is a sheet of four plants of what appears to be an intermediate between A. brad- Uyi and A. platyneurm, a frond from one of which is here shown in figure 13. As this has not as yet been studied in the field by the writer, nothing further will be said about its relationships at this time. Summary.— Four Appalachian AspUniums have been previously known, and two new ones are here described. Three are regarded as descendants of a northern ancestor, and one of a hybrid between now unknown northern and southern parents, while two are indicated to be hybrids of present-day species, which have however become fer- tile and self-perpetuating, and are to be classed as inde- pendent species. Washington, I). C. i New Tropical American Ferns—II William R. Maxon The present instalment contains descriptions of two new tree Eerns. One of these is a diminutive Alsophila from British Guiana, belonging to a group of half a dozen South American species characterized by having the fronds once-pinnate and pinnatifid, resembling cer- tain species of Dryopteris. The other is a Porto Rican AlsophUa which shows extraordinary range of leaf dis- «ction, fully fertile fronds varying from pinnate- pinnatifid to bipinnate-pinnatifid. * Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. New Tropical American Ferns — II 55 Alsophila Gleasoni Maxon, sp. nov. Rhizome undescribed, presumably small and forming a short erect eaudex; fronds 65 cm. long; stipe 20 cm. long, slender (2-4 mm. thick above the base), castaneous, armed with scattered blunt straight conical spines less than 1 mm. long, deciduously paleaceous, the basal scales linear-deltoid, long-attenuate from a subcordate base, 5-6 mm. long, bright brown, with narrow, pale, minutely erose-denticulate margins, those above striped, with broad, pale, subfimbriate margins; blades linear-oblong, 45 cm. long, 10-14 cm. broad, long-acuminate in the api- cal third (the tip attenuate-caudate), pinnate-pinnatifid. the rachis distantly aculeolate toward the base, brown, nonpaleaceous, laxly puberulous ; pinnae about 20 pairs, alternate, spreading, approximate, oblong, rounded be- low (the proximal segment short), abruptly acutish or even obtuse at the apex, 5-7.5 cm. long, 1.5-2.2 cm. broad, petiolulate (1 mm. or less), pinnatiseet at base, less deeply cut outward, the costa yellowish-strigose above, bearing a few scattered hairs beneath and an occasional bullate dark brown scale; segments of lower pinnae 10 or 11 pairs, oblong, rounded, distally acutish, subfaleate, 4-5 mm. broad near the apex, the basal 2 or 3 pairs half or two-thirds their width apart, somewhat constricted at base, joined by a long, very narrow wing, subentire to deeply crenate-serrate, those above closer, abruptly de- current, the wing gradually broader; costule bearing 2 or 3 spinous hairs above, glandular-strigillose beneath; veins 6 or 7 pairs, very oblique, obscurely glandular- striyillose beneath, mostly once-forked; sori small, slightly supramedial, borne upon one or both branches, mostly in the basal half of the segment ; receptacle very small, subglobose ; paraphyses minute. Leaf tissue her- baceous, dull green, paler beneath. Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 1,059,473, collected near Rockstone, British Guiana, in dense up- land forest, July 15 to August 1, 1921, by H. A. Gleason (no. 830). A most distinct new member of the small group of pinnate-pinnatifid species of Alsophila. From a reading 56 American Fern Journal Ifid founded on a British Guiana plant collected by Appun (no. 1032), it might be confused with that species; but' . a portion of the Appun type, courteously forwarded from Kew, shows that A. bipinnatifidum differs in nearly all respects, more especially in its narrower and much longer pinnae (10 to 13 cm.), its more numerous, evenly rounded, and membranous segments (about 19 pairs), its conspicuously hairy surfaces (the hairs of two kinds, short and long, borne freely upon the costules, veins, and leaf tissue on both sides quite to the ciliate margins), its more numerous veins, and its distinctly inframedial sori. The relationship of A. Gleasoni with the other members of the group is even more remote. Alsophila borinquena Maxon, sp. no v. Rhizome decumbent, 10-30 cm. long, or erect, up to 1 meter high, densely paleaceous at apex, the scales ovate- attenuate, 1-1.5 cm. long, light castaneous, concolorous, lustrous. Fronds several, 1-2 meters long, the stipes olivaceous, distantly muricate or low-aculeolate at base ; blades oblong-ovate, 0.5-1.5 meters long, the smaller ones pinnate-pinnatifid only, the larger bipinnate-pinnatifid, the rachis dull olivaceous, smooth, glabrescent ; pinnae spreading, stalked, articulate, those of small but fully fertile blades 10-16 cm. long, 2-5 cm. broad, narrowly lance-oblong, long-acuminate, merely pinnatifid to pin- natisect, the segments close, mostly falcate, serrate- crenate, with a single or double row of sori; pinnae of large fronds deltoid-oblong, acuminate, 30-45 cm. long, 15-20 cm. broad, long-stalked (3-5 cm.), pinnate- pinnatifid, the rachis pale olivaceous, unarmed, bearing about 12 pairs of distant pinnules, these stalked, articu- late, linear-oblong, long-acuminate, pinnatifid more than half-way to the elevated costa ; segments oblong, close, broadly joined, slightly serrate-crenate at apex, the costule bearing 1 or 2 minute, deciduous, light castaneous, ovate-attenuate, bullate scales ; veins 7-10 pairs, elevated, Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — V 5/ simple or some of the proximal ones acutely forked ; sori 6-9 pairs, small, the lower ones supramedial, the others nearly medial; paraphyses short, hyaline; indusial scale wanting. Leaf tissue spongiose-herbaceous or subcori- aceous, lustrous, glabrous. Type in the IL S. National Herbarium, no. 1,145.551, collected in forest along the Catalina-Yunque Trail, Liiquillo Mountains, Porto Rico, at 600 meters altitude, February 23-26, 1923, by N. L, Britton and E. M. Bruner (no. 7571). The present species is common in Porto Rico, particu- larly in the Sierra Luquillo, the following additional specimens being at hand: Britton <(* Brown 5441 ; Brit- ton & Hess 2274, 2316; Cowles 416; Dale 31, 62; Eggers Helle 758; / 6146; Underwood & Griggs 327. The Sintenis numbers were wrongly identified by Kuhn, partly as A. nitida Lesser A. gibbosa Klotzsch, which apparently is restricted to South America. All three species belong to the difficult group of A. aspera (L.) R. Br., which will be discussed in a later paper. Washington. D. C. Ferns- Facts and Fancies About Them-V F. E. Corne Botanists have arranged the great order Filices, or Ferns, into suborders, families, genera, species, varieties and forms. The eight families are distinguished by the way m which the tiny globes (called sporangia) inclosing the dust dike spore atoms burst open to discharge their contents. In the family called Polypodiaceae, to which most of our ferns belong, these globes, themselves as 58 American Fern Journal small as little seeds, are stalked, are somewhat the shape of a helmet and are encircled by an elastic jointed ring which is weak at one spot. When the spores are ripe the ring shrinks, the weak spot cracks, gapes open as the spore case breaks, the upper part bends back suddenly and closes again thus scattering the contents to the wind. On examining groups of sporangia by the aid of a good pocket lens it is seen that each group is formed of a number of these globes and that they each grow out from a vein either at the tip or from the sides, also that they are in most of our species covered by a thin papery shield. This covering is a raised bit of the epidermis and is called the indusium. The manner in which this indusium is attached, at the center or the side, and the way in which it opens is so unvarying that it is used by botanists as a means of deciding genera. The group con- taining the polypodies and beech ferns has no indusium and has been said to have "naked spores" although, as the spores are still in cases, that would seem to be rather a misnomer. This part of fern study is very intricate, but fortu- nately Ave, as beginners, need not trouble ourselves much about it. What we must know, however, is the shapes of the different groups, and their positions on the fronds. As we have seen they may be round, curved or elongated, near the margin, or in rows near the midvein, or half way beneath, or under the recurved edge of the pinnules, and so on. Under a modern microscope the tiny spore atoms, whose presence was not even known to ancient botanists, are seen to be translucent objects consisting of a single cell of various shapes, round, oval, tetrahedral, etc., according to the different species, and some of them are beautifully marked. Two hundred years ago the presence of these spores was discovered, but they were supposed to be seeds. Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — V 59 Seeds, as every one knows, produce tiny plants like the parent plant, but spores produce plants quite unlike the parent. In the case of ferns these are like small green heart-shaped scales which, when mature, are not more than a quarter of an inch across, are attached to the ground by tiny hairs and are called "prothallia. " In all cases, large ferns or small, these are essentially the same. On the under side of these tiny plants, when fully grown, can be seen by the aid of a microscope two groups of excrescences, which are essentially the flowers of the ferns, and w r hich contain the reproductive organs. When ripe there issues from one group tiny coiled-up objects which, as if endowed with sense, swim over to the others in a drop or dew or other necessary moisture and fertilize them as the pollen of flowers fertilizes the pistils. An infinitesimal root stalk now begins to grow, a hair-like root goes down into the earth, a tiny leaf appears above and a baby fern has started on its perilous career. The prothallium lives until the little fern can take eare of itself then withers and disappears. And now with suitable conditions, if nothing untoward happens, like lack of moisture, or the attack of insects, or perhaps being crushed or uprooted by some careless person, in the course of from two to seven years, according to species, the little fern will grow to maturity. Surely when one knows the length of time required for a fern to attain its full growth one will not only be careful oneself but will also warn others against unnecessary or careless up- rooting of a fern plant. A well-established fern in eon- genial surroundings will live for very many years. Another way of identifying the species is by the veins which can easily be seen by holding a frond up to the bght. Many ferns, superficially alike, can be identified m this way. For instance, the sterile fronds of the cin- 60 American Fern Journal namon and interrupted osmundas, the ostrich fern and even sometimes the Virginian chain fern, if found in uncongenial surroundings like a dry sunny field where they have survived after trees have disappeared, are apt to be stunted and look much alike even to an expert. But the ostrich fern has perfectly simple veins running in straight parallel lines from the midvein to the edge of the leaf. The two osmundas have also parallel veins near the midrib, but they divide and fork before reaching the edge, while the chain fern has meshed veins like a net. Of course if fertile fronds are present, not likely how- ever under such conditions, there should be no difficulty. Still another means of identification is found in the stems which show a great diversity in form, color, and texture. The maiden hair, for instance, has round glossy almost black stems, while the hay-scented dicksonia has green ones shading to yellow or red toward the rootstock and covered all over with tiny downy hairs to which fact is owing the old technical name of "pilosiuscula." Again the prickly shield fern is thickly covered with brown scales all the way up the stipe. The marginal shield fern has large bunches of bright brown scales growing close to the caudex. Then some are round, some flat, some grooved on the sides or front or both. Dr. Waters, author of a beautifully illustrated fern book, can tell to what species a fern belongs by simply cutting a cross section of the stem and noting the number and arrangement of the fibro-vascular bundles. These bun- dles are fibers which run through the stems to the ends of the fronds forming the veins there and which act like sinews to the plant. I can of course only indicate these differences. The Ijest and quickest way to learn the different species is by gathering fresh fronds, taking care to secure both Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — V 61 sterile and fertile ones, and then looking them up by * means of a key or descriptive book of which there are now several on the market. This is not so difficult as may- be imagined, that is, so long as one keeps to our ordinary- New England species, the first of course that one wants to get acquainted with. And if one happens to find a plant that is unusually puzzling, why fern students are a friendly group, almost any one of whom would doubt- less be glad to come to your aid. But be sure for the first to secure a popular fully illustrated book as free as possible from obscure technical phrases. I began, as already said, with Mrs. Parsons' "How to Know the Ferns," now to be found in almost every library. It is a delightful book to read. Her descrip- tions are charming and she takes one with her on her trips to search for her treasures, in the forest, beside running waters, on the sides of steep cliffs and rushing mountain torrents. But for quick identification one or two of the more recent books are more satisfactory, be- cause while equally elementary, they go more directly to the point, describe more species, and are small enough to carry in the pocket. To Mrs. Parsons is due, if I am not mistaken, the credit of the first really popular book on northeastern ferns, all previous ones which were at all attractive for beginners were, to say the least, pro- hibitive in price besides being too large and heavy to handle easily. Another interesting thing about ferns is the many ways they can be propagated— not only by spores, run- ning rhizomes, and divided crowns but some, like our Boston fern, throw out stolons which root if covered with earth. Others, like the walking fern, bend their lon^ tips over until they reach the ground where they take root starting new plants. Still others have tiny plant- (32 American Pern Journal lets growing out of the upper surface of the fronds which will grow separately when properly detached and planted. Still others bear bulbils, some on the rachis, or fern leaf stem, and some even on the roots. Besides this, florists can do wonderful things to multiply plants. Among others they understand how to cut up fronds of the hart's-tongue fern and by planting the pieces pro- duce new plants, much, I suppose, as one plants a be- gonia leaf. The spores of most ferns, though so very tiny, possess a wonderful vitality. I have read of lost species being regained by planting spores of specimens that had been in press for many years. On account of this remarkable vitality some facetious writer suggests that our ferns might be the means of starting vegetation on some new planet. Their spores are so small and light that they might be caught up and carried by the wind beyond our atmosphere and being then in cold storage, as it were, could travel on and on for years until attracted by some new planet on which they would alight and there begin to grow. Cambridge, Mass. Recent Fern Literature M. Henri Gadeau de Kerville has generously presented to the Society, in a finely printed and beautifully illus- trated pamphlet of 66 pages, the second series of his " Notes sur les Fougeres" (Notes on Ferns), nos. 6 to 11, inclusive; 1 and they may now be borrowed by any member who is interested and can read French. M. Gadeau de Kerville is especially interested in "freak" forms, their nature and origin. He has investigated the 1 For a review of the first series, see this Journal 8 : 23, 191S. Recent Fern Literature 63 cause of abnormal forking in ferns, finding it to be physiological. He has described semi-fertile fronds of Blechnum Spicant, intermediate between normal fertile and normal sterile forms, which he thinks are nearly like the fronds of an original monomorphic ancestor of the species. From the fact that the simply pinnate Blech- num Spicant, like our own Christmas fern, sometimes produces fronds in which the lowest pair of pinnae are pinnatifid while the others remain simple, he argues that species like Polysticlium tripteron Kze., in which such a condition is now T normal, were originally of teratological origin. He has tested the taxonomic value of some, often much-named, varieties. He found deeply cut, forked, and crested fronds of Asplenium Nidus and A. Hemi- onitis on the same rootstocks with normal ones. He pro- duced marked variation in leaf- form in plants of Pol li- st ichum aculeatum by exposing them to alternate periods of heat and cold. By transplanting specimens of Pteridium aquilinum, f. undulaium Breb. (a variant recognized in many European floras) to a sunny place in his garden, he got perfect fronds of the typical form from the same rootstocks which the year before had been producing the variant. From these facts he conclude* that such variations are of no importance in classification and protests earnestly against giving them scientific names. 2 Carl Christensen has determined the pteridophyta among the Chinese plants collected by Dr. Harry Smith during the years 1921 and 1922. The results he has now published in the form of three lists, one of 31 species from the province of Chili, one of 9 from Yunnan, and, *Gadeau de Kerville, Henri. Not mi les Foug<*res, sixieme- onzieme. Pp. 255-321, pis. 7, figs. 16. Rouen, 192L\ 64 American Fern Journal third and most important, an enumeration of all the fern- worts hitherto reported from Sze-chuan. This includes 320 species ; but Mr. Christensen believes that too many species have been described from China in recent years and that this total will be considerably reduced by fur- ther study. He has himself been able to see the types of a number of species rather vaguely described by J. G. Baker and Christ and has reduced a large proportion of them, especially of Christ's, to synonymy. This definite disposal of hitherto doubtful plants is one of the most valuable features of the present work. Three species not before known from China, Dry op- teris stegnogramme, Cyst opt eris montana, and Equi- setum variegatum, are recorded. Six new species, in ~\Yood$ia, Asplenhim, Dryopteris, Pellaea, and Cheilan- thes, are described and illustrated. 3 J. A. Crawford has described the collection of hardy ferns in the New York Botanical Garden. It is placed on the east and north sides of a large outcrop of native rock, shaded by good-sized trees. A miniature brook has been made to flow down from the summit of the rock. In the moist terraces along its course and the artificial bog which it waters and on the rock itself, some of whose crevices have been filled with limestone for the sake of such species as like it, are growing 34 native ferns (in- cluding climbing fern, two grape ferns, Scott's spleen- wort, and the slender and purple cliff -brakes) and three exotics from Japan and South America. 4 3 Christensen, Carl. Plantae sinenses a Dre. H. Smith annis 1921-22 lectae. III. Pteridophyta. Medd. Goteborgs Bot. Tradg. I, 41-110, pis. 16-20. 27 Oct., 1924. 4 Crawford, J. A. Hardy Ferns. Journ. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 24 : 114-119. June, 192.' ? ,. Recent Ferx Literature 65 Prof. II. S. Conard believes that for every floristic dis- trict of his state (Iowa) there should be a "simple and convenient manual of the local flora." Toward this end he has prepared a comprehensive little manual of the pteridophytes of the vicinity of Grinnell. It gives brief descriptions of the larger groups, genera, and species, and keys to the last where a genus contains more than one. Derivation of generic names, habitats, local sta- tions, common names, general ranges, and time of fruit- ing of species are recorded, as well as occasional notes containing miscellaneous information. Some of the evi- dently local common names are interesting, as "snake grass" for Equisetum laevigatum and "prairie fern" for Cy stopfer is fragilis. We do not think, however, that we shall follow Prof. Conard in referring to the walking fern as "root-leaf Camptosorus. " Nor do we think that Grinnell is likely to become a mecca for fern lovers. Its entire fern census includes only five fern allies, one grape fern and 18 true ferns, and of this total of 24, 16 are reported as rare. 5 All fern-lovers should be interested in the following clipping from a Syracuse, N. Y., newspaper : — "The Solvay Process Company has notified botanists connected with Syracuse University that due notice will be given before ferns on the tract of land between James- ville and High Bridge, which it is now working, are de- stroyed by quarry operations." The ferns referred to are, of course, hart 's-tongue. Eventually, the company expects to remove all vegeta- tion from the tract, but its action in giving notice to in- s Conard, H. S. A manual of the ferns and "fern allies" of Grinnell and vicinity. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. 29: 317-327, 19-- (so dated, but apparently not actually issued in that year). 66 American Fern Journal terested botanists makes it possible to save the hart's- tongue by transplanting. ABN As I was walking along the edge of a shaded swamp near Gainesville, Florida, early in February, 1925, I saw a solitary frond of Osmunda cinnamomea that looked pe- culiar, so I stopped to examine it more closely. It was three feet tall and mostly sterile and normal except at the tip, where it w^as contracted and fertile for about six inches, the apical pinnules being a mass of sporangia and those lower down bearing sporangia only around their margins. Other plants of this species had sent up their fertile fronds a month ago and the last sterile ones were just unrolling. The curtain was being rung down on the season — the last chance to play a part in the next genera- tion was rapidly slipping away ; but the elemental urge to reproduce was active in this solitary frond, the only one of its clump, and when its final pinnules were un- rolled, behold something different — sporangia filled with spores ! This was not a fertile frond with sterile parts — forma frondosa; but a sterile frond with fertile parts — forma fertilis. I find much to interest me in the Florida ferns. — W. A. Murrill, Gainesville, Florida. Dr. MurrilPs note on the cinnamon fern has a number of interesting implications— for example, the fact that, even in Florida, fertile fronds had completed their de- velopment at the early date specified. Of much interest is the observation that the ' ' frondosa ' r forms, in which part of the frond is sterile and part fertile, may arise in two ways— by a normally fertile frond producing sterile pinnae, and the reverse. In the former, one would ex- American Fern Society 67 peet the sterile part of the frond to be at the tip, in the latter, at the base, as in Dr. Murriirs specimen. Can anyone tell us anything about the relative frequency of the two arrangements, and whether there is any tendency for one to appear earlier in the season than the other? American Fern Society The Massachusetts Horticultural Society has awarded a gold medal to our new member, Mr. H. H. Richardson, for "his work in creating a remarkable wild garden" and a first-class certificate to Mr. E. H. Clarkson for "his work in collecting, classifying, and cultivating native ferns." Plans are on foot for a local field meeting of Fern Society members at Monterey, Berkshire County, Mass., at some date in July, a project made possible by the interest of Mrs. Anna C. Parker. The region within reach of Monterey offers a considerable variety of soiK and habitats ; it should be easy to see a large number of fern species in their native haunts. Notices giving de- tails will be sent later to members living conveniently near; anyone interested may get full information by applying to E. J. Winslow. 222 Grove St., Auburndale, Mass., or to C. A. Weatherby. 11 Wells Ave., East Hart- ford, Conn. Miss Mary Alice Marshall, a member of the Society since 1906 and its Vice-president from 1920 to 1924^ in- clusive, died in Cambridge. Mass., March 29, 192.'). Marshall's home from early childhood was in the village of Still River, a part of the town of Harvard, Ma>s. Ti _.„-. „ „+:^,„i n +;v 1 n f utinn«nhprp in which she srrew up. 68 American Fern Journal where the parents were alive to all beauty in nature and to the best thought of their time ; where books and flowers abounded and a compound microscope stood ready for use; and where children were trained to observe care- fully and describe accurately what they saw. After her schooling was over, she spent a few years in teaching, and later was a proof-reader in the office of the Manchester, N. H., Mirror. This work she left because of her mother's failing health, and for many years was kept at the old home, caring for both parents. Always she studied the life of the fields and woods within her reach ; and she was a good gardener. But what those who knew her will remember, more than what she did, is that she was the finest, sanest, most loyal friend, and that Emer- son's phrase about one "who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of soli- tude" seemed made for her. Miss Marshall's herbarium, consisting largely of local ferns collected by herself and containing the interesting specimens of proliferous ebony spleenwort from the base- which she once described in the Journal, was bequeathed by her to the Society. Changes of address : Kittredge, Miss E. M., Box 352, Berlin, N. Y. Mousley, H., 469 Harvard Ave., Notre Dame de Grace, Montreal, Canada. THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB MEMBERSHIP Including Bulletin, Memoirs, and Torreya, $5.00 a year PUBLICATIONS Bulletin. Monthly, established 1870. Price, $4.00 a year; single numbers 40 cents. Of former volumes, only 24-47 can 1 bapplied separately. Manuscripts intended for publication in the Bulletin should be addressed to Tracy E. Hazen, Editor, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York City. Torreya. Bi-monthly, established 1901. Price, $1.00 a year. Manuscripts intended for publication in Torreya should be addressed to George T. Hastings, Editor, Bobbins Place, Yonkers, N. Y. Memoirs. Occasional, established 1889. Price, $3.00 a volume. Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteridophyta within 100 miles of New York City, 1888. Price, $1.00. Subscriptions and other business communications should 1*9 addressed to the Treasurer, Dr. B. C. Benedict, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y. FOR ALL PLANT STUDENTS There is only one magazine of popular Botany in America. It began with the present century and is still un- technicaL out a single duplication. botan — edited by the Founder of the American Pern Society. Quart erty, 48 pages, $1.50 Sample copy $5 cents The American Botanist, Joliet, 111. (We offer vols. 8-20. Fern Bulletin, for f8 postpaid.) The Science Press Printing Company Printers of Scientific and Educational Journals, Monographs URBAN - and Books Gen. Manager Information furnished, and detailed estimates submitted Lime and Green Sts.. Lancaster, Penna. THE BRYOLOGIST PUBLISHED BY THE SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY The only magazine in English wholly devoted to Mosses, Hepatics, and Lichens. Bimonthly; illustrated; for the beginner as well as for the professional. Yearly subscrip- tion in the United States, $1.25. Twenty-five cents addi- tional gives membership in the SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY, with free services of Curators for beginners. ADDRESS A. TENNYSON BEALS 2929 Broadway NEW YORK CITY This Free Catalog List* Field and Herbarium Equipment Botanists Collecting Cases Fern Trowels Plant Presses Hand Lenses Field Picks Felt Driers , Genus Covers , Mounting Papers Write to-day far Catalog F 91 RIDGE B WAVERLEY COMPANY MASS^U. S. A. Vol. 15. July-September, 1925 No. 3 Ammratt 3fortt Journal A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO FERNS Published by the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY & EDITORS R. C. BENEDICT E. J. WINSLOW C. A. WEATHERBY A* CONTENTS Fern Collecting in Haiti— I E. C. Leonard 69 Ferns— Facts and Fancies About Them— VI... F. E. Cobne 80 Unusual Fern Finds H. Mouslet 8 Data on Scolopendrium vulgare W. E. McColl 9 Notes on Cinnamon Ferns E. M. Kittredge 93 Recent Fern Literature American Fern Society. 98 100 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $L25 ; FOREIGN, $h -r a . ^*^ AUBURNDALE, MASS. y I * s\ Entered as second class matter at the AGbarndalebranch of ttt# oston, Masa., Post Office, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Acceptance >r mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section liw. ct of October 3, 1917. authorized on July 8, 1918. QOh SI?? AtturUan 3txn §>0rt?tg OJnratrti far 1 325 Officers for the year William E. Maxon, Washington, D. C. - - - President Mrs. Carlotta C, Hall, Berkeley, Calif. - - Vice-president Rev. C. S. Lewis, 835 Edgewood Ave., Trenton, N. J. Secretary J. G. Underwood, Hartland, Vt. .... Treasurer OFFICIAL. ORGAN Ammnm 3t rtt Slourttal EDITORS Ralph C. Benedict - - 322 East 19th St., Brooklyn, N. Y, E. J. Winslow Auburndale, Mass. C. A. Weatherby East Hartford, Conn, An illustrated quarterly devoted to the general study of ferns. Subscription, $1.25 per year, foreign, 10 cents extra; sent free to members of the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY (annual dues, $1.50; life membership, $25.00). Extracted reprints, if ordered in advance, will be furnished authors at cost. They should be ordered when proof is returned. Volume I, six numbers, $2.00 ; other volumes $1.25 each. Single back numbers 35 cents each. Volume I, number 1 cannot be sup- plied except with complete volume. Ten per cent, discount on orders of six volumes or more. Matter for publication should be addressed to R. C. Benedict, 322 East 19th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Subscriptions, orders for back numbers, and other business communications should be addressed to E. J. Winslow, Auburn- dale, Mass. CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM S. Hopkins - - Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Mo. A regular loan department is maintained in connection with Society herbarium. Members may borrow specimens from it any time, the borrower paying all postal or express charges. 9 pages of the Journal are also open to members who wish to American Fj:i;.y Journal Volume 15, Plate 5 Ptkbis longifolia and Adiantum tenerum crowing at the Base of a partially shaded Cliff, "La Grande Source," Etkoit, Gonave Island American $nn Jfmtntal Vol. 15 JULY-SEPT., 1925 No. 3 Fern Collecting in Haiti. 1 — I E. C. Leonard Imagine my surprise and excitement when told, on re- * turning to the National Museum from military sen ice m the fall of 1919, that I was to have the opportunity of collecting plants in Haiti, a region in which little work of this nature had been done. It was suggested that I accompany Dr. W. L. Abbott, of Philadelphia, a natural- ist old in travel and experience, who wanted particularly to study the bird life of Gonave Island and to complete certain series he had collected on a former visit. Dr. Abbott, I might acid, has long been a benefactor of the United States National Museum. His chief interest i^ m ornithology, but aside from birds he has made exten- sive collections of mammals, as well as of ethnological material, chiefly in Africa, Tibet, the East Indies, and Hispaniola. The present opportunity was for me the chance of a lifetime! I did not even consider the pos- sible difficulties, but set about at once to make the neces- sary preparations. Thus, one cold day in February, 1920, I found myself actually en route for New York to meet Dr. Abbott, on the way to Haiti. There had been a severe storm in the [Vol. 15, No. 2 of the Journal, pages 35- ?, plates 3 and 4, was issued June 30, 1925.] 1 Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 69 70 American Fern Journal Northeast. The streets of the city, buried in snow to a depth of several feet, were completely obstructed in many places, and vehicles were forced to run on the sidewalks, which for the most part had been kept clear. Fortunately we had sent on our heavy baggage ahead of time. As it was, we experienced a good deal of trouble in reaching the wharf with our hand bags. Three days later found us passing through the warm Caribbean on the S. S. Colon, with the cold and snow of New York far behind. On the evening of the following day the blue ranges of the northern peninsula of Haiti, close to our left, and the damp woody smell of the land breeze blowing off the Cul-de-Sac both told us we were nearing port. Next morning we were walking the hot white streets of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. Port-au-Prince * To those who know Port-au-Prince the place is always associated with the great twin-towered cathedral that rises in its midst far above all other structures. The city itself, especially the older part, is built on French plans; the sidewalks are at any height, and unless you are especially active it is greatly to your advantage to walk in the street. This seems to be expected, however, as the sidewalks are mostly used for displaying wares and country produce. Notwithstanding the encroach- ments of the ubiquitous flivver and the abounding traffic of a single short street car line, the rickety carriage with its clanging bell and equally rickety steed still plays a great part in the transportation of passengers. Preten- tious suburban residences, analogous to the French chateaus, are beautifully hidden in walled gardens filled with tall palms, brilliant bougainvilleas, sabliers (Hura crepitans), and many other showy plants. American Fekn Journal Volume 15, Plate fl SKETCH Map of Haiti, showing t i i k Localitifk VISITED 72 American Fern Journal «< The climate of Port-au-Prince, cooled by the land breeze at night and somewhat tempered by a sea breeze during the day, is not unpleasant. Early each morning the streets are swept by the white-clad Departement Sani- taire, and for neatness they put to shame many of our American cities. In the heat of mid-day, aside from the clack-clack-clack" of an occasional coffee fan, a drowsy quietness pervades the streets, but toward evening they awaken to business and the liveliness of pleasure-bent citizens. We selected for headquarters the Hotel de France, on account of its nearness to the wharf and railroad sta- tions. As Dr. Abbott took over the responsibility of obtaining permits and arranging baggage for our first inland trip, I was left with some spare time. Of this I took advantage by making small excursions about the city for plants. South of the wharf and near the seashore were several vacant lots and unused grassy streets. The gi'Diind, in- tersected by ditches, was marshy in places and mostly covered by a sod of grasses, sedges, and various tropical weeds. The only ferns found here were a few large plants of Acrostichum excelsum. Bordering the city on the south are low foothills, cut by dry rocky ravines. The slopes are arid, rather steep, and generally covered with thickets. Here ChdlavMux microphylla was occasional. Adiantum melanolevr-u rn grew abundantly on low limestone cliffs exposed by road- grading; this, A. tenerum, Dryopteris serra, and Pteris longifolia were found commonly also in the dry ravines. St. Marc On the 24th of February we began the first stage of our trip inland, boarding a train early in the morning for St. Marc. The entire day was required to reach our Fern Collecting in Haiti — I 73 destination, 60 miles away, and darkness overtook us long before the train finally stopped for the last time. A large crowd of natives were gathered at the station to meet us. In the scramble for baggage an over-solici- tous individual shattered the baggage-master's only lan- tern. Then in the darkness and confusion that followed the whole crowd of spectators seemed to join in with the passengers to unload the baggage car. Eventually we were able to rescue our belongings and, with the help of two husky natives, convey them safely to the hotel. From the viewpoint of a fern collector this region proved rather uninteresting. Notliolaena trichomanoides pilosa, an ally of our southwestern N. sinuata, was occa- sional on the dry rocky slope rising abruptly from the seashore. at the north side of the city. Dryopteris nor- malis and D. patens were common along irrigation ditches. Gonave Island Anse a Galets, a small bay on the northea stern coast of Gonave Island, was our first objective. After a few days at St. Marc, we set sail in a fishing boat, with a crew of captain, mate, and cook. Our craft was a small open affair, with a single triangular sail both ragged and patched, bearing the trademarks of several well- known American flour companies, A new chum, as Dr. Abbott calls an initiate in tropical exploration, might wonder with good cause how such a craft could keep afloat, especially in the rough water often whipped up by stiff breezes in the bay, but somehow we managed to cover the 40 miles in safetv. Once on shore we pitched our first camp under a clump of lignum vitae trees not far from the small village of Anse a Galets. Gonave Island is about 30 miles long and 10 miles wide, and consists of a low mountain raime bordered 74: American Fern Journal by a belt of foothills. On its north coast these merge gradually to a level beach, fringed by mangroves, and a reef-enclosed belt of still water, but on the south side they descend rather abruptly into deep sea. Interspersed among the white barren "salines" of the coast region are groups of small trees belonging to the Combretum family (Conocarpus erectus) and thorny mesquite (Pro- sopis juliflora) ; the flat bushy tops of the latter, viewed from a distance, look remarkably like a green meadow. The Conocarpus trees, singular in their resemblance to * apple trees, give the effect of old orchards along the beach. Dense thickets cover the arid mountain sides and ? j opens into large grassy tracts with occasional trees or shrubs. The broken forest yields a fair amount of lignum vitae and logwood. Scarcity of water and, in many places, large outcrops of bare coral rock restrict agricultural activities chiefly to the few valleys containing but the grassy uplands, freshened by heavy dews, fur- nish excellent grazing land. Apparently only goats are utilized for dairy purposes, and that on a small scale; the live stock is raised chiefly for meat. st reams rinsrs "jardins." With their machetes they laboriously clear the ground of trees and most of the underbrush, which after drying is burned. Then sweet potatoes and corn are planted in the ash and thin soil, and usually are left to take care of themselves until harvest. Cotton, cassava, castor beans, and "pois congo" (Cajanus indicus), a bean-bearing shrub, grow more or less spontaneously. The farming equipment is in no way elaborate, consist- ing of a machete and occasionally a hoe. Other arts and industries are equally primitive. This was illus- trated in the valley of Anse a Galets, where men were getting out lumber to build a flour mill. The large logs Fern Collecting in Haiti — I 75 were supported on an elevated platform and with the aid of a wedge the men, one above and one below, would slowly work a badly worn saw through the hard wood. Boards could be produced by this method at a rate of one every two or three days. Sawed lumber, however, is not used in the construction of the simple one- or two-roomed, gabled structures — the average Haitian house. Usually, upright poles are first planted in the ground and on these plates and rafters are set, the whole then being fastened together by wooden pins or tough vines. Afterward the walls are filled in with a wicker-work of twigs, which is finally plastered inside and out with a mixture of mud and lime. The roof is covered with thick grass thatch. On account of neglect to employ diagonal braces the houses often acquire a considerable list. Windows are absent, as a rule, because the Haitians seem not to consider ventila- tion beneficial, and prefer being hermetically sealed in during the night, possibly as a protection against mos- quitoes or a fancied ill effect of the night air. Aside from occasional officials, white men are seldom seen on Gonave Island; consequently the natives have things pretty much their own way. As a rule we were met with an effuse politeness — a low bow, a lifted hat, and a pleasant "Bon jour, monsieur 7 '; but sometimes a woman or child in the Table region would become hys- terical and rush away screaming "Blanc! Blanc !" Dr. Abbott, much respected on account of his tall command- ing appearance, they called "Papa." Of course, even in our own highly civilized country the w r ays of a naturalist are sometimes incomprehensible, but here a plant col- lector could mean only one thing, namely, "boeo," or gathering herbs for medicine or magic. It was useless to tell them otherwise. The Haitians, where undisturbed, are still supposed to carry on their old voodoo rites. An opportunity was 76 American Fern Journal c«.\ offered me on Gonave Island to verify this fact, but unarmed and alone I did not think it prudent to inves- tigate too thoroughly these ceremonies, which are gener- ally reported to be rather dangerous for an unescorted visitor. However, while covering some new territory on "La Table," my attention was attracted by a distant continuous roll of tom-toms, with occasional yells. Working slowly toward the sound, under tall grass, I was able to get very close to the place, when a woman in a near-by hut spied me and gave the alarm. Instantly about twenty natives, rather too suggestive of the kind described by certain great African explorers, materialized out of the thick guinea grass and, although not violently demonstrative in any way, intimated very definitely that I had no business there. So, assuming a preoccupied air, I told them, as best I was able, that while "cherchant les plantes pour remede" I had be- come lost and wished to go coastward. This information seemed to satisfy the men and they soon disappeared, leaving me in the charge of several women whom I finally managed to elude. I then continued my day's collecting in a direction opposite to that of the festivities. This particular ceremony lasted three days. No ferns were to be found either in the coastal areas or the arid thicketed plains bordering the central range, but "La Source," a large valley near cur camp, sup- ported a comparatively rich growth. The stream, fed by a good-sized spring near the head of the valley, flows about a half-mile and then sinks into the dry soil. The banks are steep, rocky, and— away from the immediate vicinity of the stream— rather dry; but wherever the -oil is deep enough and clearings have not been made, the slopes are thickly covered with vegetation. In many places the upper slopes, especially at the head of the valley, are broken by bare cliffs, crevices, and large piles Fern Collecting in Haiti — I 77 of jagged coral rock. On the summit of one of the latter was a thick growth of Poly podium polypodioides. Adian- tum melanoleucum and Pteris longifolia were common on the lower slopes near water, while Cheilanthes micro- phylla and Poly podium exiguum were confined to the upper dryer regions. Dry opt er is guadahipensis was common on mossy rocks about the spring. One large boulder near the stream was covered with an abundant growth of Selacjinella stolonifera. A single plant of the m damp soil near the water. On the grassy table land, occasional cliffs and dry ravines furnished shelter for an abundance of Adianhnn mehnwlcucum, A. tencrum, Pteris longifolia, and As- plenium dental um. Large thickets of Pteridium cuuda- tum covered some of the more open and level areas, many of these plants being six feet high. After two weeks in the vicinity of Anse a Galets we broke camp and, taking advantage of quiet water en- closed by the reef, sailed about ten miles along the coast to the northwest, where we established a new camp on the barren outskirts of a small fishing village called Etroit. The general character of this region is similar to that of Anse a Galets, namely, an arid coast with salines, mangroves, and Conocarpus trees, a dry thick- eted plain, foothills, and mountain slopes, an open sum- mit, and occasional ravines. One ravine, "La Grande Source," is exceptionally large and well watered for this island. The bed is rocky and the sides steep and rugged. Nearly all the trees have been removed. Here, in addi- tion to the ferns observed at Anse a Galets, were found Tectaria heracleifolia, T. hippocrepis, Cyrhpelti* semi- cordnta, Adianhnn cristatum, and Dennsiedtia rubi- ginosa. 78 American Fern Journal Our work on the north coast of Gonave Island now finished, we returned to Port-au-Prince and here made preparations for a second trip, inland. We had planned to explore the lake regions east of the Cul-de-Sac and thence northward to Grand Bois, but civil troubles in that region forced us to change the latter part of our plan. We were able, however, to work the region south of Etang Saumatre, first on the southeastern shore in a region called Fond Parisien, and later in a portion of the La Selle mountains in the vicinity of Mission. Cul-de-Sac The Cul-de-Sac, a large level plain, probably once the bed of an inland bay, is bordered on the west by the Bay of Port-au-Prince, on the east by Etang (or Lake) Saumatre, and on the south and north by a series of mountain ranges which arise rather abruptly on the north, but on the south are bordered by a considerable belt of foothills. Much of the Cul-de-Sac region is watered by streams which burst forth on the lower levels of the plain after having flowed a long distance under- ground through the dry hill regions from the mountains. The greater part of the arable land is given over to sugar growing, while thorny cactus thickets cover the arid portions. Etang Saumatre, as well as Lake Enriquillo a short distance to the east, is salty, being apparently a rem- nant of sea cut off by an uplift of the Cul-de-Sac. Although the greater part of its shore bordering the Cul-de-Sac is arid, the northeastern portion is watered by a series of large springs which flow through a belt of meadows the vegetation of which is composed chiefly of small sedges. Acrostichum excelsiim was common along the wet banks of the streams, and AzoUa earth linuina grew abundantly on sluggish water. Fern Collecting in Haiti — I 7!) Crossing to Fond Parisien, on the southern shore of the lake, we entered a region which, although supporting an especially interesting desert flora, was a disappoint- ment so far as ferns w r ere concerned. Only two species, Dryopteris serra and D. patens, were found, these grow- ing along irrigation ditches and in wet meadows. While here we witnessed an extraordinary flight of butterflies. A hard shower following a very long drought brought to life millions of them and for several days they moved steadily westward in a continuous yellow cloud. Chief among our difficulties here as in other parts of Haiti was the problem of procuring reliable men and a sufficient number of animals to transport our outfit. The small donkey, so typical of Haiti, seems to be more numerous than horses and mules. He is a gentle inof- fensive creature but strong and well adapted to carrying heavy loads on the narrow and often slippery trails that lead into the mountainous regions of the interior. An interesting sight it is to see these little fellows coming into town on market days, almost hidden by their bulky loads of produce but bearing, on top of all, their re- spective owners, usually a market woman clad in ban- dana, mother-hubbard, and counter-]' as slippers that flop rhythmically to the jogging of her "bete." There is seldom much trouble in obtaining one or two animals for riding purposes, but as to hiring four or five— that is something extraordinary. Usually it results in hiring several men, each to accompany his own beast, when as one would have been sufficient. For our journey to Mission, about fifteen miles south- ward in the La Selle Mountains, we were able finally, through the influence of a local American planter, to procure four transports and a guide. The first part of the trip was uneventful, but toward the end we experi- enced some difficulty, as the way lay through a dry river so American Fern Journal bed covered with round stones which made walking tire- some if not dangerous. Dr. Abbott and his two animals were soon outdistanced by the two I was endeavoring to follow, and behind him limped our cook, woefully be- moaning the fact that he was "malade de jambes"; and last of all, and practically out of sight, came our guide. Luckily the animals knew the route, otherwise we might never have found Mission. Washington, D. C. Ferns— Facts and Fancies About Them— VI F. E. Corne Would not some of you like to try the experiment of sowing fern spores and watching the result? It is not at all a difficult thing to do and is very interesting. The spores of hothouse or house ferns may be bought from florists, and those of our native wild plants one can gather. Place any ripe fertile frond in press between white papers, and in a few days, as soon as: it is quite dry, if carefully lifted it will leave on the white paper its exact impress composed apparently of fine brown dust, but in reality, as may be easily seen under the microscope, made up of innumerable spores. Spores will start growing upon almost any porous surface where it is moist and warm, as on wet peat or sand, and spore- lings are often found on the outsides of newer pots m hothouses. To grow them properly fill a fern or bulb dish half full of broken bits of flower pots or other drain- age material. On top of this a thin layer of moss, then about an inch of finely pulverized loam. This should be sterilized by placing the pot for an hour or so in boiling hot water, or by baking it in an oven. Then when cool enough and thoroughly moist but not wet, Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — VI 81 sprinkle the spores mixed with a little fine sand or earth very evenly over the surface. Press down gently with a piece of smooth wood. Cover the pot with a piece of glass, set it in a saucer of water and leave it in the dark for several days. It should then be brought into the light but never into sunshine. Also it must never be allowed to get dry, and must not be watered from above, therefore the drops of moisture accumulating on the in- side of the glass must be removed every day. In a short time, a few days or it may be weeks according to the species, a fine green scum looking like mildew will appear on the surface, and gradually it will be seen that this is composed of very minute almost microscopic scale-like prothallia. If the spores have been too generously sown, little clumps may be removed on the end of a penknife and planted elsewhere. When the prothallia have reached maturity, if proficient in using a microscope, one may be able to watch the wonderful process of fer- tilization. Anyone who has become truly interested in ferns will almost inevitably want to do pne or both of two things start a fern garden, or at least a fern bed, and begin collecting for an herbarium, besides of course having potted ferns in the house. In regard to growing " let me quote a sentence I read lately which is very much to the point. "Ferns like most things in nature are sensitive to thoughtful tenderness and repay that con- sideration which consists, not in expensive outlay, but • rather in loving study of a plant's likings and dislik- ings. ' ' Here in a few words are the directions for fern culture. Give the ferns what they need and as they need it and they will amply repay all your care. Shade, moisture, good earth and some stones are surely neces- sary, but each species has its individual likings just as people have. If a fern naturally grows in a wet rocky ferns 82 American Fern Journal place, it cannot reasonably be expected to thrive if planted in a dry garden bed without even the semblance of a stone under its roots. Nor will a plant whose nat- ural habit is to carry its crown well above the ground be likely to live if buried deep, though other species may need to be treated in that way. Any one lucky enough to own a bit of moist woodland may be able to accomplish wonders with ferns and other native plants. Failing that, however, even a backyard in a city may be coaxed to harbor a few. If you do not know what treatment your plants require, inquire of those who do know. There are many dealers now who raise and sell native hardy ferns who doubtless would willingly help. And then there are books. The late Miss Grace Woolson's "Ferns and how to grow them" is full of practical suggestions. The best earth for the majority of ferns is a mixture of fibrous loam, sand and peat, or leaf mould. The black woods earth is of course the best, but is not always easy to obtain. Save all the leaves from fruit and lawn trees m autumn, pile them up in a corner, and in a very few months the under ones will have become leaf mould. If conditions are such that the more delicate ferns cannot be arranged for, there are a dozen or more of our hand- some common ones which once properly established will do well even under unfavorable conditions. The lady fern, marginal and spinulose shield ferns, the cinnamon and interrupted osmundas are among the best. The ostrich fern also will stand a good deal of sunshine and drought and a well established bed of it mingled with a few wild flowers like field lilies and others is a pretty sight. Under these circumstances, however, it never at- tains its normal height and beauty. The Christmas fern and the male fern are also very hardy but require more shade than is absolutely necessarv for the others. So Ferns— Facts and Fancies about them— VI 83 also the polypody, bladder fern and of course the brake. Beware where you plant the brake ! It is a wanderer, and one can never foresee where new fronds will come up. The rootstocks run deep, and it is difficult to dig up. One summer I found sporeling plants which I brought home and planted, as I thought, well outside of the fern bed, and was much disappointed when they all died down. But the rootstalks were by no means dead. Next spring vigorous fronds came up eight or nine feet away and right in the midst of my most delicate plants. The osmundas it is best to buy if possible. They also, except sporeling plants, are extremely difficult to dig up, as you may judge from an experience of my own. One summer when in the mountains I particularly wanted to take home with me a -plant or two of the interrupted fern and was much pleased when I discovered a field of young plants, dozens of them scattered all over it. I decided to take several. But I counted without the osmundas. Not the slightest impression did my trowel make upon any of them. They all seemed to be anchored down to China. The rhizomes also seemed to be all linked together so that walking over the field felt as it might to walk over a huge spring bed. Finally at the very edge of the field I found a small plant which on touching it seemed to.be loose. "At last here is one that I can easily dig up," I thought, and attacked it vigorously, only to find myself a moment later lying flat on my back, the handle only of my broken trowel remaining in my hand, while the fern was as firmly rooted as ever. So you see when advised to take an axe and a saw when you go fern dig- ging it is not meant as facetiously as one might imagine. Be sure to get the cinnamon osmunda. Although this fern grows much taller and is more beautiful in a damp thicket it does very well in a dry partially shaded place and is very attractive in early summer when a dozen or 84 American Fern Journal more tall spikes of bright brown spore cases appear in the midst of a circle of green sterile leaves. It is the most flower-like of the so-callecl "flowering" ferns. In the mountains this fern sometimes assumes in autumn brilliant orange and brown colors vieing with the maple and sumac in beauty. Miss Woolson tells us that, contrary to the general opinion, many of our wild ferns make good house plants. Some do well only through the summer and should in autumn be planted in the garden. Others do well almost the year round only requiring an enforced rest for a few weeks in a cool cellar during the winter. I have seen the maiden-hair spleenwort treated in this way and a very attractive pot plant it made. I read once an inter- esting thing about this plant. Brought from shade into the light and warmth of a living room the fertile fronds were seen to vibrate back and forth for some minutes, stopping occasionally, then starting off again. The ebony spleenwort and the polypody will also do well for a good part of the year, while the cliff brake Miss Woolson calls an ideal house plant. But it should never be turned round in order to have it grow symmetrically. It natur- ally grows against a rock and as "revolving rocks are not in the natural order of things/ 7 as Miss Woolson quaintly puts it, "this plant demands the privilege of standing still." House ferns bought at a florist's almost invariably require to be changed to a pot one size larger and the earth loosened, as they are apt to be pot-bound, and then to receive a thorough watering. The best way to water ferns and many other plants is to set the pot up to the brim in a tub of water so that the ball of earth about the roots becomes thoroughly wet. Leave not longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. This should be done at least once a week, and ferns should be sprayed or Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — VI 8f> sprinkled with water once or twice a day. The best time to repot ferns is said to be toward the end of Feb- ruary before new growth begins, but the change may be made any time if care is taken not to disturb the roots. As a rule no water should be left in the saucer in which they stand. To prevent this when a fern pot is kept in an ornamental outer bowl, the bowl should- be provided with a double bottom, preferably perforated, and some moss. with ing water once a week and leaving the plants shut in the room for an hour or so. As we all know, very few plants will flourish in the dry hot air of the ordinary living room, especially if that room is lighted or heated by gas. The holly fern (Cyrtomium) and the Boston fern (Nephro- lepis) seem to be the two which stand this abuse the best, though others with care may endure for a while. The best, we can do is to remember the fern's greatest needs— frequent change of air, good earth, good drain- age, plenty of moisture and to be kept away from draughts. House ferns grown in too dry an atmosphere are at times subject to the attack of insect pests. Prompt action is necessary to preserve the beauty of the plants and to prevent the insects from spreading. The tiny red spider will succumb to water alone. The green aphis requires confined tobacco fumes. A minute black insect which loves to hide under scales of tomentose stems may be treated with "black leaf 40. ' ' Little white worms which sometimes appear in soil which has not been properly sterilized may be killed with lime water or ammonia water. The brown scale which is particularly partial to plants of the hard stemmed varieties must be scraped off, care being taken that none fall on the ground, and then the whole plant should be carefully sponged with whale oil or ivory soap suds, or with kerosene emulsion. 86 Americax Fern Journal Badly infected fronds should be cut off and burned. Little slugs occasionally appear and these may be trapped under bits of carrot, potato or turnip placed on the ground. Under these they will hide and so can easily be found and destroyed. On two or three occa- sions some of the ferns in my garden were attacked by green worms or caterpillars which, working on the under part of the frond, first devoured the spores, and then ate holes in the leaf itself before being discovered. They clung tenaciously to the plant and had to be knocked off into a tin of kerosene and the plant sprinkled with hellebore. Cambridge, Mass. Unusual Fern Finds 87 Unusual Fern Finds Henry Mousi^y Mr. W Coll in the Oct. -Dec. number of the Fern Journal, 1924, p. 104, I am here enumerating a few of my rarest finds amongst the terns at Hatley, Stanstead County, Quebec. First and foremost let me say, I consider the rarest, as well as the most interesting, find of all to be the one figured in the accompanying illustration, which represents, not only an example of that rare and curious little form of the moonwort, Botrychium onondagensc, but one, also, of dichotomous branching in the same species. which condition is very uncommon in any of the Botrych- iums. and perhaps is unique in this particular species 88 American Fern Journal or form, whichever you prefer to call it. As may be gathered from my recent paper in the above number of the Journal, on B. dissectum, I have spent several years in intensive study of the Botrychiums, but never have I come across an example of dichotomous branching, until I found this one on July 10, 1924. The station where these little plants are found is a very small one indeed, and I have to limit myself to one or two specimens a year. Probably my next rarest find is a plant of B. virginia- num, discovered on June 16, 1924, bearing four fruiting panicles, a thing hitherto unknown to me in any of the Botrychiums, although I have examined some thousands of plants, the nearest approach to it being several ex- amples in 7>. obliquum, B. silai folium, and one also in the present species, with three fruiting panicles. In addition to these, I have found many examples in B. obliquum, B. dissectum, B. silaifolium, and B. Virginia- num bearing two fruiting panicles, as well as, in several cases, sori on the sterile fronds. Of very small examples in this family, I have a plant of B. virginianum with fruiting panicle complete which is only 8 cm. in height, and one of Ophioglossum vul- gatum still smaller, its total height being only 3 cm. Amongst giant examples, I once found a plant of B. virginianum measuring 91.5 cm. in height, which is 30.5 cm. in excess of the extreme given in Gray's Manual! The sterile segment of this extraordinary plant meas- ured 45.75 cm. across ! Amongst other interesting forms outside of the Botrychiums may be mentioned examples of Polypodium virginianum, forma deltoideum, corresponding to the ex- ample in plate No. 1 of the Fern Journal for Jan.- March, 192-1, with the exception that the spurs in my example only appear on the lower side of the two bottom Unusual Fern Finds 89 segments and not on the top as well. The tips, however, are elongated, and the plants might with equal propriety be referred to forma elongation, of which I have several other examples, but in no case are the tips excessively * elongated, although several of the segments in some cases are narrow and very pointed, and could therefore no doubt be referred to forma acuminatum also. These all came from the big gorge at Coaticook, Quebec, about nine miles to the east of Hatley. In the Fern Journal for April-June, 1924, pages 60-61, Mr. Weatherbv gives the range of the very beau- tiful forma cambricoides of P. virginianum, so far as it was then known. It is with pleasure that I am able to extend this range into northern Vermont, for I have taken examples of this form near Montgomery, the only difference in my examples being that they are not quite so extreme and highly developed as Rev. F. W. Gray's from West Virginia, which is figured in the Fern Jour- nal for Jan.-March, 1924, plate No. 2. The var. cam- hrlcum of P. vulgare as I knew it in Europe is char- acterized by the acute tips of the segments, rather than by the great elongation of the same, as appears in Mr, Gray's example, which I should imagine is an extreme example of the forma cambricoides. but here my speci- mens are more like the English ones, •*.«., the segments are shorter. Possibly these notes would hardly be complete without reference to the var. aleuticum of Adiantum pedatum, which I first found on August 30, 1920, about three weeks prior to its discovery at the foot of Mt. Orford by Mrs. L. Frances Jolly, of Berkshire, Vt., to whom I have already given credit elsewhere for really bringing the matter to light. Hitherto, this variety had only been found in the province of Quebec on the top of Mt. Albert. 3280 ft., and at Black Lake, Megantic County. It is 90 American Fern Journal fairly well distributed around Hatley in a more or less pronounced form, according, no doubt, to the abundance or absence of the asbestos formation in the vicinity of the plants. In conclusion, I trust I may not be the only one to comply with Mr. McCoIl's suggestion, and that ere long we may hear from other members of the Society, relat- ing their red-letter days. The photograph from which the illustration was made was taken by the Geological ourvey at Ottawa, and I am indebted to Dr. 31. 0. Malte, chief botanist, National Herbarium, Ottawa, for it, the specimen having been presented to the Herbarium. Montreal, P. Q. Data on Scolopendrium vulgare J. E. Smith W, K. McColl As the station at Georgian Bay, and the immediate vicinity of Owen Sound, Ont., is the only known home for Scolopendrium in Canada (if we omit a small colony in New Brunswick) it makes the notes by Mabel R. Hunter, in the Fern Journal, Vol. 14, No. 4, 1924, con- cerning this plant in New York State unusually inter- esting to one who has for some vears studied and taken the plant in this vicinity. It is quite evident from the quantities mentioned in the above article, (two hundred and fifty plants being found in an area ten feet square), that conditions in New York State must be altogether favorable for this plant's requirements. The Hart's tongue here, as it is commonly called, is intermittently scattered over an area of ten or twelve miles in suitable situations, on shaded limestone rock talus, broken outcrops of limestone, in limestone vugs, * On Scolopendrium vulgare 91 around and underneath limestone boulders in shade of hardwood, on the walls of rock crevices where the open- ings are ten to fifteen inches wide, and upon shaded knolls. It shows a persistent affinity for Polystichum Ion chit is Roth, growing like twins with this hardy fern, especially when they are found in rock crevices or cropping out from beneath limestone boulders where their roots can feel the coolness of the rock surface, cuddled in as they are between the earth and stone. We hear of plants with from ten to thirty fronds each, but no such thrifty specimens are found here. The aver- age clump bears more often from three to six fronds and the longest leaf ever found measured twenty and one half inches — a single specimen only. While the plants are apparently healthy, they seldom grow much over twelve to fourteen inches, and many appear pale in color. The finest plant seen here grew on a fifteen inch earth-capped igneous boulder and con- tained over a dozen fronds, it grew in shade and received nourishment from the wash of a gentle slope; this plant was removed carefully and planted in my garden on the north side of the house where I watched it for four years, dwindle and grow smaller, producing immature, ill- shaped, irregular edged fronds, lacking fruiting, and altogether uninviting in appearance. Two years ago I planted another good specimen be- tween the garden earth and the limestone foundation of the house on the north side where the roots could feel the coolness of the stones, and shaded it with Aspidium spinulosum intermedium; this was a succ( s, grew healthily and sent up nice new leaves, fruited nicely, green winter The altitude here ranges from 586 to 723 feet, and while tin 92 American Fern Journal fern can usually be found, if one knows where to look for it, it is nowhere in such abundance as it is in New York State. The season of 1923 was particularly cold in the spring, and the late summer intensely hot, with little lain, the plants drooped, turned quite soft, lifeless, leathery, and went into winter quarters in this weakened condition. In the fall of 1924 the two best stations were thoroughly searched for good specimens, one in hard- wood shade, strewn with large limestone boulders, the other on broken limestone outcrops, and neither station produced two dozen good plants, in fact it appeared as if the weather conditions of 1923 had practically ruined both locations. In a search of nine years, only one specimen has been taken with long ears below (auri/um) but the specimen is a splendid one, having cars two inches long. Short- eared specimens occasionally occur also, forked speci- mens are not uncommon, while two or three, with lateral branches protruding from above the centre of the frond, two to two and a half inches in length, are great rarities. A form discovered last season was quite new to me. being long and narrow with extremelv heavy, dark brown son and the margins of the leaf deeply waved or undu- lating, the curves being uneven and erratic. This is scarce, and apparently only found on specimens that have survived under the deep snow of the previous win- ter. Po> ibly half a dozen fronds have been taken fruited from apex to base, the lower part of the frond not so fully covered as the apex; these are extremely rare, but fortunately one specimen found measured twenty inches long. Many freak forms can be picked up, such as auger shapes, round tips, moonwort shapes, twin stipes, double lobed tips, and many others. Forms most difficult to obtain are the narrow attenuate sort, with small lobes below, half inch wide at base and Notes on Cinnamon Ferns !* ; ! gradually expanding for two-thirds of its length to a width of one inch, the frond being about fifteen inches long; and a short, broad variety, measuring about two inehes wide, of almost equal width from tip to base, not over ten inehes long. The third of these rarities is a single plant containing seven fronds, none of which measure over one half inch in width, being about nine inches long, and of an equal width up to the sharply tapered and pointed apex ; no swelling to the middle of I the frond. This is thought to be our rarest form. Owen Sound, Ontario Notes on Cinnamon Ferns E. M, KlTTREDGE ferns the .Maiden-hair and Christmas ferns, and then only lor their decorative value. Cinnamon ferns were known 1" me, but I considered them ugly. In extenuation let me say that the plants were always much broken and dis- colored by the time I could see them. After *»■« ing a rare fern exhibited with pride by the finder, and 1 n- ing a little of the joy there might be in finding an un- usual form, I began looking for variations from the type in both Interrupted and Cinnamon ferns, mainly, I think, because they were large plants and easily seen. During the next three summers I collected a great many fronds of both species, and regularly burned tip th- easons "catch" at the summer's end, as there seemed never to be any of particular inter. art, In August, 1!^ :> >. I came upon five Cinnamon ferns whose fronds were strikingly different from any I had Been, the lower inner pinnules being much elongated and ineised, and so placed American Fern Journal Volume 15, Plate 7 Forms of Osmunda cinnamomea Notes on Cinnamon Ferns 95 they completely covered the rachis, giving the appear- ance of a double ruffle down the middle of the frond. Each frond had been somewhat damaged by passing cattle, but still were lovely, and I collected several. * Later a friend referred my find to Hopkins' variety aurkulata. (Fern Journal, July, 1911). During the season of 1924 I set myself to study Cin- namon ferns in the field, and as a result examined several hundred plants and collected over one hundred fronds, in various localities in Vermont, chiefly within a few miles of Proctor, although I collected more than twenty in the "Perry pasture " in Hartland, and five from my original five plants, which also were in that town, but some distance away. All of the Hartland plants grew in rather wet places, and in my later collecting trips I .Lound the largest and finest plants in wet ground. I have a few beautiful fronds from the dry and rocky top of quite a high hill near Rutland, but they are not half the size of those collected in the swamp at the foot of the hill. With the exception of two, all the fronds collected / /. bipinnatifid treatment of the species. (Rhodora, Sept., 1923.) Hav- ing little technical knowledge of ferns, I feel considerable diffidence in writing about any species and in particular this one, since my observations make me wish Dr. Blake had been a little less rigid in his classification. I found all the fronds that I examined, that must be called /. incisa, grouped themselves naturally into four divisions, or phases. 1st. The pinnules were normal except for a few on the pinnae of the middle third of the frond which bore 1-3 lobes, usually not at all prominent, but some- times rather large and acute. 2nd. The lower inner pinnules would be much elongated and incised, and a few or many other pinnules more or less acutely lobed, 96 American Fern Journal just as depicted in the Hopkins drawing. Occasionally these elongated pinnules would be much longer than indicated in the drawing and more deeply incised, as in my Hartland specimens. 3rd. Nearly all pin- nules on the upper half or two thirds of the frond— with the exception of the first few nearest the rachis— would be deeply lobed and incised. 4th. The lower inner pinnules of fronds otherwise like No. 3 would be very long and deeply cut. In the 3rd phase I have two distinct forms, both beautiful but very unlike. One, first found in a swampy field in Pittsford, but afterwards collected in several places, is of the dull olive color and thick texture of the type; its pinnae are set close together on the rachis, and the pinnules are almost mathematically, and very acutely, lobed, and usually overlap (fig. 1). I n the other found in Brandon and Rutland the color is a rich green, the texture is very thin, and the lobes of the pinnules, while acute, are not at all regular in shape and size and for the most part the lobed pinnules are somewhat broader than the others —altogether exceedingly handsome plants (fig. 2). And I may add that these plants had no dead fertile fronds, while the others did. In the 2nd phase— the auriculata phase— were some very interesting fronds. One had three forked pinnae and a good many forked pinnules (figs. 3a and 3b). Two from Hartland had no proper apex, but several forked pinnae forming a rosette. One from Lake Dunmore had the inner pinnules of the middle portion of the frond much elongated but without serration, while those on the upper part were much cut. Another from the same locality had many lower pinnules, and usually one or two upper, on all pinnae (save the two lowest) on the right side of the rachis elongated, left f Notes ox Cinnamon Ferns 97 Pleiad Lake must be considered as belonging in the 3rd phase, but were quite remarkable in being very glossy light green in color, pinnae opposite and wide spreading, a few pinnules lobed, all very acute at tip, and set almost exactly opposite on the mid-vein. The fertile fronds were delicate in structure, pale in color, pinnae wide apart, opposite, and wide spreading — that is, not at all ascending as in the common form. There were many plants. The ferns that must be referred to /. bipinnaiifida Clute occurred in several phases also. 1st. I have fronds whose 2-6 lower pinnae bear few to many pinnules some- what cut. 2nd. Fronds otherwise like No. 1 have elon- gated, more or less cut inner pinnules on several or many pinnae. 3rd. Pinnae for the lower third or half of the * blade will have several or many pinnules very much cut, and sometimes much crowded on the midvein, some- times more widely spaced than in the common form. 4th. Fronds otherwise like the above have elongated, much cut lower inner pinnules. 5th. Two or several lower pinnules, and one or more upper, will be elongated and incised (Fig. 4). 6th. Several or many or all pin- nules on all pinnae may be deeply cut, some pinnules being cupped, pinnae and pinnules crowded, and the lower pinnae forked. All of these phases, in both incisa and bipinnaiifida, may be found in both starved and luxuriant plants, in fairly dry or quite wet situations. One of the two fronds mentioned was a fine example of the variety frondosa, taken from an otherwise nor- mal plant. The other came from a noble plant growing in a swampy field. It measured about fifty-two inches high and almost seventeen wide, maintaining that width for nearly the entire length of the blade. Pinnules are much broader than in the common form, and somewhat more widely spaced. The lower inner pinnules of the 98 American Fern Journal middle third of the frond are very slightly longer than the others and have each one lobe next to, and occasion- ally overlapping, the rachis (Fig. 5). My observations cannot be called extensive, but from what I have seen I am ready to say that Cinnamon fern is to be found in many forms in any locality where the species is at all abundant. It seemed sometimes that no two plants in the same field were anywhere near alike. Again when specimens from stations twenty or more miles apart were compared, they were found to closely resemble each other, even to measurements, and in three cases similar forms had pinnae forked in almost exactly the same way. While resemblance in form was remarked, the great variation in color was also noticed, plants in the same field ranging from pale to rich deep green and dull olive. m Proctor, Vt. Recent Fern Literature Bro. Victorin 1 has excellently supplemented his work with Quebec (see this Journal ^v***xjofxxxvt VA. JL*m*\J [JlX^K/tD 1/1X tut*** ----^ — - podiales (that is, the genera Lycopodium, Selaginella, and Isoetes) of that province. As before, his investiga- tions cover a wide field and a great array of facts and opinions, historical, geographical, evolutionary, and otherwise, bearing on the species concerned, is brought together, organized, and set forth in lucid and interest- ing fashion. In part I, of 83 pages, the groups and spe- cies are discussed in detail ; the remainder of the work is devoted to a systematic treatment, with keys, descrip- 1 Victorin, Fr. Marie-. Les Lycopodinees du Quebec and leurs formes mineures. Cont. Bot. Univ. Montreal, no. 3. 121 pp., 2 pis-, 11 figs. Montreal, 1925. Recent Fern Literature 99 tions, and notes on medicinal and other uses, etc. Espe- cially in Lycopodium, numerous varieties and forms are recognized, fifteen of them for the first time. Indeed, so minutely in this part of the work done that it seems very unlikely that anyone botanizing in the region cov- ered can now lack a name for any form of Lycopodium he may find. In all three species of Selaginella, four of Isoetes, with two varieties and forms, and 11 of Lyco- podium, with 31 varieties and forms are recognized. Fol- lowing Fernald, L. sitcJiense is treated as a. variety of L. sabinaefolium and, following Blanchard, L. flab ell i- forme is given full specific rank, not, as in Gray's Manual, treated as a variety of L. complanatum, or, as in the • Illustrated Flora, ignored altogether. Ferns and the Fern Society figure largely in the May imber of the National Geographic Magazine. The fea- rns and the colored illustrations which accompany it were prepared by one of our members, Mr. E. J. Geske. In brief space, Dr. Maxon has contrived to give, very read- ably and with the usual profuse illustration of the Geo- graphic, a remarkably comprehensive view of ferns m their various aspects. Their beauty, their imitators in other families of plants, their geography, their history in past geologic ages, their cultivation here and in Eng- land, and their economic uses, all are touched upon. Representative species of different parts of the United States are called to mind, and such marvellously differ- ferns and tree ferns rn- tropics are set forth so enticingly that, reading, one i moved to buy a machete and set forth at once, regard- less of climate. Finally, a rather detailed account of the processes of rem-oduction in ferns and of each of the 100 American Fern Journal 15 species illustrated is given. Mr. Geske's paintings are reproduced in the natural colors against a black background. Whether this really serves to bring them out better than the usual white or tinted one may be questioned; but at any rate the pictures are accurate, life-like, and attractive. American Fern Society New members : Clark, Hugh Savage, Lancaster, Mass. Foote, Mrs. E. M., 119 East 40th St., New York City. Jayne, Miss Addie, Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va. Omitted from the recent list of members : Leeds, Arthur N., 5321 Baynton St., Germantown, Pa. ^ The address of Mr. C. \Y. Jenks is Bedford, Mass., not New Bedford, as in the list of members. By special request, H. E. Ransier, Manlius, N. Y., will undertake to supply Fern Society members with living specimens of hart's-tongue fern from the Jamesville, N. Y., station, which is being destroyed by the Solvay Process quarries, at 25 cents and postage. Immediate application is imperative. Small to medium-sized speci- mens only are available. Mr. Henry Mousley, who has given the illustration which accom- panies his article in this number. AVe are indebted also to Prof. J. H. Schaffner for the use of the plate which appeared with his article in No. 2. THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB MEMBERSHIP Including Bulletin, Memoirs, and Torreya, $5.00 a year PUBLICATIONS | Bulletin. Monthly, established 1870. Price, $4.00 a year; single numbers 40 cents. Of former volumes, only 24-47 can be supplied separately. Manuscripts intended for publication in the Bulletin should be addressed to Tracy E. Hazen, Editor, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York City. Torreya. Bi-monthly, established 1901. Price, $1.00 a year. Manuscripts intended for publication in Torreya should be addressed to George T. Hastings, Editor, Bobbins Place, Yonkers, N. Y. ' Memoirs. Occasional, established 1889. Price, $3.00 a volume. Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteridophyta within 100 miles of New York City, 1888. Price, $1.00. Subscriptions and other business communications should be addressed to the Treasurer, Dr. B. C. Benedict, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y. FOR ALL PLANT STUDENTS m America. It began with the present century and is still un- technical. out a single duplication. botanical It is edited by the Founder of the American F Society. Quarterly, 48 pages, $1.50 Sample copy 25 cents The American Botanist, Joliet, 111 (We offer vols. 8-20, Fern Bulletin, for $8 postpaid.) The Science Press Printing Company Printers of Scientific and Educational Journals, Monographs A ' E ' Jwt?' and Books v»en. Manager Information furnished, and detailed estimat fc; $ $MMUf*W Lime and Green Sts., Lancaster, Penna. THE BRYOLOGIST PUBLISHED BY THE SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY The only magazine in English wholly devoted to Mosses, Hepatics, and Lichens. Bimonthly ; illustrated ; for the beginner as well as for the professional Yearly subscrip- tion in the United States, $1.25. Twenty-five cents addi- tional gives membership in the SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY, with free services of Curators for beginners. ADDRESS A. TENNYSON BEALS 2929 Broadway NEW YORK CITY !' This Free Catalog List* Field and Herbarium Equipment Designed by Botanists, Collecting Cases Pern Trowels Plant Hand Lenses Field Picks Driers Genus Cove Mounting Write E BOTA! in WAVERLEY MASS., U. S. A Vol. 15. October-December, 1925 No* 4 Amrriran 3nw. Journal iUMWVBOTM A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO FERNS Published by the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY » EDITORS R. C. BENEDICT E. J. WINSLOW C. A. WEATHERBY A"» CONTENTS Charles Humphrey Bissell C. A. Weatherby 101 Fern Collecting in Haiti— II E. C Leonard, 107 Ferns— Facts and Fancies about them— VII. ..F. E. Corne 118 Recent Fern Literature 123 Saving the Hart's Tongue R- 0. Benedict 124 American Fern Society 125 Index to Volume 15 131 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION. SL25 ; FOREIGN, $1.35 ^^ **. fife-v"-*. AUBURNDALE, MASS. stJ& Z^St^^f Entered as second class matter at the Auburndale Boston, Mass., Post Office, under the Act of March 3, 18 _,,_ for mailing at special rate of postage provided for if section Mt^h. A ,„-„ Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 8, 1918. I FtM $ 1926 My tgm Stje Ammratt 3nx\ $itri?tg (Botmrttfor 1925 officers for the year William R. Maxon, Washington, D. C. - - - President Mrs. Carlotta C. Hall, Berkeley, Calif. - - Vice-president Rev. C. S. Lewis, 835 Edgewood Ave., Trenton, N. J. Secretary J. G. Underwood, Hartland, Vt. - - - ' - Treasurer OFFICIAL. ORGAN EDITORS Ralph C. Benedict - - 322 East 19th St., Brooklyn, N. Y. E. J. Winslow - - - - - - Auburndale, Mass. C. A. Weatherby ..... East Hartford, Conn. An illustrated quarterly devoted to the general study of ferns. Subscription, $1.25 per year, foreign, 10 cents extra; sent free to members of the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY (annual dues, $1.50; life membership, $25.00). Extracted reprints, if ordered in advance, will be furnished authors at cost. They should be ordered when proof is returned. Volume I, six numbers, $2.00 ; other volumes $1.25 each. Single back numbers 35 cents each. Volume I, number 1 cannot be sup- plied except with complete volume. Ten per cent, discount on ordefs of six volumes or more. Matter for publication should be addressed to R. C. Benedict, 322 East 19th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Subscriptions, orders for back numbers, and other business communications should be addressed to E. J. Winslow, Auburn- dale, Mass. CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM L. S. Hopkins - - Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Mo. A regular loan department is maintained in connection with the Society herbarium. Members may borrow specimens from it at any time, the borrower paying all postal or express charges. wish arran «a*c*iigu tfAcnanges ; a memoersnip list is puoiisneu cu .luxm^* t . those interested in obtaining specimens from different localities. American Fern Journal Volume 15, Plate 8 Charles Humphrey Bissell, 1857-1925 Ammran 3fnn Jmtrnal Vol. 15 OCTOBER-DECEMBER No. 4 Charles Humphrey Bissell C. A. AY EAT HERB Y Professional botanists interested in floristics are com- paratively few, and the demands on their time are large and insistent. Had it depended upon them alone, the gathering of the great mass of data necessary to even our present understanding of the distribution and classifica- tion of North American plants might have been long delayed. That it has been no slower is due to a very considerable degree to a line of devoted amateurs, keen observers and industrious collectors, who have given their leisure to the work. One of these — one of a par- ticularly active group of them — was Charles Humphrey Bissell. Mr. Bissell was born in East Windsor, Conn., Dec. 16, 1857. His ancestors were among the first settlers in the region; probably there has never been a time when the town was without someone of their name. His own earliest recollection was of being taken to the training camp at Hartford to see his father, then about to leave with one of the Connecticut regiments for service in the Civil War. He was educated at the Chicopee, Mass., high school, where he was valedictorian of his class, and, for a year, [Vol. 15, No. 3, of the Jourxal, pages 69-100, plates 5-7, was issued Oct. 21, 1925.] 101 102 . American Fern Journal at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. He chose a business career, and began it as a bookkeeper at New Britain, Conn., in 1879. In 1882 he married Eva Valen- tine Matoon. In 1886 he moved to Southington, Conn., and started business on his own account. There he spent the rest of his life, a successful merchant and a man to whom his fellow townsmen turned with entire confidence in any matter which called for perfect integrity, sound judgment and constructive ability. These qualities he placed freely at the service both of community enter- prises and, though always reserved in the expression of friendship, of individuals. "I think I never knew a kinder, more helpful person, ' ' wrote one of his friends ; many botanists, to go no further, can testify to that quietly and cordially given helpfulness. Mainly through Mr. Bissell's efforts, the very success- ful Southington Building and Loan Association was or- ganized in 1912. From that time until his death he was continuously its secretary and practically the manager of its business. He had been president of the state league of such associations and was a member of the executive committee of their national organization. He was interested in the work of the Sons of Veterans, and had served as commander of the state and vice-comman- der of the national societies. Though never seeking and usually refusing, political office, he had served two terms as representative in the Connecticut Legislature. Here he was a member of the committee on state parks and forests and did what he could, in lean years of post- war readjustment, to further their development. Mr. Bissell's interest in botany began in boyhood and to the end of his life, never waned. Soon after moving to Southington in 1886, he began the formation of an herbarium and the study of the local flora. For many Charles Humphrey Bissell 103 years most of his holidays were spent in the field, at first in the minute exploration of the country about his home, later, as the scope of his work widened, in longer trips. Among his frequent companions on these excursions, which he never liked to take alone, were the late H. C. Bigelow, well known to members of the Fern Society, and the writer. He was an admirable companion in the field, quick of eye and thorough in observation, ready to take with equanimity whatever might come, with a dry and pleasantly bantering humor, and also with a capacity for prompt and effective rebuke when occasion demanded. A single sentence from him taught one young botanist at least, once for all, not to collect rare plants wastefully. The first result of these field studies was the Flora of Southington and Vicinity, prepared in collaboration with Luman Andrews, and published by the Connecticut De- partment of Education in 1902. It is an accurate and excellent record of a varied local vegetation, and it gave good training for later floristic work. It was followed by occasional papers in Rhodora, giving accounts of botanical trips of especial interest, records of extensions of range, and, in a few cases, descriptions of new varie- ties. One of his noteworthy observations was that Poly- gonum Hartivrightii, previously considered a good spe- cies, is no more than an ecological state of P. amphibiitm, produced when the common aquatic form of the latter is stranded by the drying up or draining of ponds and ditches in which it grows. Mr. Bissell was one of the 22 charter members of the Connecticut Botanical Society, organized in 1903, and its second president, serving continuously in that capacity from 1912 until his death. He belonged to all the other New England botanical societies (as well as to the Torrey Botanical Club and the Botanical Society of America) 104 American Fern Journal and was a frequent attendant at their meetings. He ime of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Connecticut, pub- lished, after seven years' work, in 1910 as a bulletin of the State Geological and Natural History Survey. The elaboration of those parts of the manuscript relating to the ferns and to the sedges was under his charge ; to him fell also, in large part, the task of seeing the completed catalogue through the press. The published work bears witness to the care he bestowed on every detail. He had an especial interest in ferns, particularly the various and puzzling forms of the wood ferns. One of the features of his garden (otherwise notable for its dis- play of peonies in June and gladioli in September, and for rare wild plants) is the large collection of these forms in its fern beds. In 1906 he contributed an annotated list of the ferns of Connecticut to the series of state fern floras then running in the Fern Bulletin. He had joined the Fern Society in 1897; in 1914 he was elected its president. Three years before the Society had decided on a rather radical change of policy and had bejmn the r>nhli<»atirm at an ™> pteris I left, feeling that many species yet remained undiscov- ered. Cyathea Hieronymi, a tree fern, was occasional hereabout. The exhilarating coolness and freshness and the mag- nificent views make the summit of the La Selle mountains A vi ricxs Fern Journal Volume 15, Plate 9 PARTIALLY DKXrWBD DP3 !. SLoi'EK OP THE LA BELLE RANGE, NEAR MISSION. TlIE TALL ISOLATED TREES AUK PINES, THE REMNANTS OK LAI I E rOEESTS WHICH ONi'K COVEKED THE SUMMITS OF THE MOUNTAINS, BUT HAVE BEEN DROYED BY KIKES I 110 American Fern Journal superbly delightful. In the early morning, nothing is visible from these heights but the level white surface of a vast cloud lake. Later in the day the clouds rise and sweep the upper mountain slopes in waves of misty white fog, so thick that one can hardly keep the trail. (It is an easy matter to become lc> July 23 found us at last on board the S. S. Advance, bound for New York. Before leaving Haiti our ship touched at several ports— Petite Goave, Port-du-Paix. and Cape Haitien — to take on coifee, cotton, and honey. At Cape Haitien we spent a few hours ashore, and on a short trip just outside the city found, new to our col- lections, Adiantum villosum, Anemia Underwoodiana, Lygodium polymorphum, and Pteris biaurita. Evidently our trip was a success. We collected in all nearly 10,000 specimens of plants, representing 2,608 numbers, as well as a quantity of land shells and insects. In addition Dr. Abbott prepared 201 bird skins, besides alcoholic specimens and skeletons. Some of the plants are of unusual interest as verifying the existence of cer- tain old doubtful species described and rather crudely illustrated by Plumier in the latter part of the 17th cen- tury, while many others are noteworthy as coming from the type localities of species collected by more recent botanical explorers, prominent among whom are Raun- kiaer, Buch, and Eggers. A fair number of their plants are in the U. S. National Herbarium. In the identification of the flowering plants much val- uable aid was given by Dr. I. Urban of Berlin, the well- known authority on West Indian botany. Most inter- esting among those named by him are Arcoa gonavensis and Leonardia haitiensis, both representing new genera as well as new species. He described, in addition, the iollowing new species and varieties : Abut Hon Leonardi, begonia Abbott'ii, Coccoloba neuropil i/Ua, C rot on chaeto- folia cih'ifi 'foli *Wj Guettarda spinifera, , I so dor e a Leonardi, Lyonia tr cyensis, Malpighia micropetala, Marsdenia dictyo- Phylla, Salvia AbboUii, and Tabebuia gonavensis. Be- / American Fern Jouhxal Volume 15, Plate 11 two characteristic lowland ferns along the half- shaded banks of a small stream near Petionville. The one with coarsely divided blades is Tectaria ilkkacleifolia. The other, in the background, is Adiantum crtstatum Fern Collecting in Haiti — II 117 sides, these, seven species of Piperaceae have been indi- cated by Prof. "William Trelease as new. A large and peculiar tree cactus found abundantly in the Cul-de-Sac region was associated by Dr. J. N. Rose with an old illus- tration of Plumier's and was renamed Neoabbottia paniculata. Partial sets of our plants were sent also to the New York Botanical Garden and the Gray Herbarium. The pteridophyta totaled over 600 numbers, repre- senting about 170 species. They have been identified chiefly by Dr. William R. Maxon, who has published several short papers in which some of the new species have been described and other interesting ones have been listed, as, for example, Poly podium vulpinum, known hitherto only from Brazil, and Dryopteris aMa, a Haitian species first named by Linnaeus which except for crude illustrations had remained unknown for over 200 years. With further exploration more of these puzzles will be cleared up and without doubt many addi- tional species not now known from Haiti will be found. From the standpoint of the fern collector most of the dryish lowlands and foothills regions are unpromising; it is the mountain territory, of which wide areas are wholly unexplored, that will yield the more interesting results, and in these regions there is ample opportunity for work for many years to come. Not all the species I collected are mentioned in the present paper ; a complete enumeration, with critical notes, habitat data, and cita- tion of numbers, is in preparation by Dr. Maxon. Washington, D. C. 118 • American Fern Journal Ferns — Facts and Fancies About Them— VII F. E. ( ORNE The best time to transplant hardy ferns is also in the spring, but, as with house ferns, if care is taken not to disturb the roots, it may be successfully done at almost any time. If not to be replanted immediately, a quantity of wet sphagnum-moss should be wrapped about the ball of earth, and then all done up in heavy oiled paper to keep in the moisture ; the kind used by fish dealers I find the best. The ferns will then keep nicely for a week or longer, and may be sent long distances by express or parcel post. One or two pieces of wood the length of the plant should be securely tied to the roots to prevent the plant from slipping and crushing the fronds. The whole should then be wrapped in corrugated pasteboard — the kind corrugated on one side only — or it may be securely fastened in a pasteboard or wooden box. Little ones travel well in tin biscuit boxes, never in pasteboard, if going on longer than a day's journey. The important thing is of course to keep the earth about the roots fresh and moist, and small ones dry out quickly. I have more than once had the disappointment of receiving valuable ferns dried out and ruined by improper or careless packing. We all like to gather fern fronds in summer to put in vases of water either by themselves or with flowers to which they add so much grace, and it is well to know which will keep fresh in that way. The Dicksonia, or hayscented fern, is one of the very best for that purpose. It is delicate and graceful in appearance and if properly treated at first will keep fresh for nearly a week, and then, instead of withering, will gradually turn yellow, emitting all the while more and more of its delicious Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — VII 119 fragrance. This fern frequently turns pure white at a touch of frost, which fact accounts for one of its many English names "gossamer fern.-" Ghost fern would seem to be almost more appropriate. The Christmas fern, marginal and spinulose shield ferns, polypody and some others will also keep fresh for some days, but all will keep longer if thrown into a tub of water when first gathered and left there until the fronds are thoroughly soaked. The building up of an herbarium you will find to be a very agreeable pastime requiring of course some patience, and, to secure satisfactory results, taste and skill in mounting, but perhaps all the more alluring on that very account. When starting out to gather specimens, even if not going far, take a sharp knife and something in which to carry your finds. For a short distance a newspaper may be sufficient. Never hold in the warm hand a frond which you are intending to press and mount as the delicate lower pinnae or leaflets are apt to get injured, and mounted specimens should be as perfect as possible. Besides this some of the sturdiest looking, like the Sensitive fern, wilt very quickly after they are gathered, and the warmth of the hand hastens the process. Be careful to get the whole length of the stem, and if possible, and especially if small a bit of the rootstock also as this adds to its value as a specimen and helps to identify species. In case of very small plants, if they are plentiful and not so rare that you com- mit vandalism in so doing, get a whole one root and all. Wash off while still soft any earth which may adhere to it, as later when pressed and dry this forms an un- sightly mass which can no* longer be removed and ob- scures the beauty of the root growth. Be sure if pi ssible to gather both sterile and fertile fronds and, especially 120 American Fern Journal if not familiar with them, tie them together with a bit of string, or place the fronds from each fern in separate papers to prevent confusion later. Also it is well to have on hand some slips of paper, or a small block on which to record at once the date and place of gathering and any other data which may add to the interest. If going off for some hours or longer a vasculum or botan- ist's tin box is almost indispensable. If this is supplied with some bits of damp moss the specimens will remain fresh in it for some days, though it is well to sprinkle them occasionally. Some carry a press, and put their specimens in it at once, but this is cumbersome and may cause annoying delays, especially to one's companions. A good sized portfolio, not less than 13 x 17 inches, con- ' taining sheets of damp paper is also good, or even a square waterproof bag held in shape by a sheet of corru- gated pasteboard and supplied with damp newspaper will do fairly well. In addition a book or small portfolio for very small fronds is a help. The one important thing is of course not to allow the gathered fronds to wither before they are put in press. If any are too large to mount on the regulation liy 2 x 16 1 /. mounting sheets, they should be folded over once or even twice be- fore pressing, as later they will be too brittle, and will break and look unsightly. If very large, only parts of fronds can be used, or they may be mounted in sections. On reaching home, if any fronds are quite withered they are of course useless, but if only wilted, do not despair, just throw them into a tub of water and leave them there for some hours, ever night if you like, and next day you will probably be delighted to find that they have regained all their original freshness and beauty. This is especially apt to be the case with the fleshy Botrychiums or grape ferns. Once I successfully Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — VII 121 tried the experiment of taking one of these which had been somewhat wilted before pressing, and with the mounting of which I was dissatisfied, off from the sheet of paper on which it had been glued for some months, freshening it in water and then remounting it. Before pressing these soaked fronds however the extra moisture should be carefully removed with a soft cloth, or blotter, and the absorbent paper in the press changed within a few hours. In an emergency when no press is at hand, two pieces of stiff pasteboard or smooth wood, a quantity of smooth newspapers and some heavy stones or flatirons will answer fairly well instead. A press which comes for the purpose, made of crossed slats of hard wood and which can be bought for a moderate sum at a botanical supply store, is the best thing ; or if this is considered too clumsy, two pieces of heavy book binders' board will answer, and will take up less room. The press must of course be somewhat larger than the mounting sheets. Some quires of white absorbent paper called newspaper stock, and a quantity of gray felt blotting paper which comes for the purpose are needed, and are also to be had at a botanical supply store as well as other things which will be required. To fasten the press have ready three or four strong flexible straps of leather or webbing fur- nished with good patent buckles. Leather straps with ordinary buckles which require holes seem usually just too loose or just too tight, while with patent buckles the straps may be pulled tight to the limit of strength. In addition to the straps I often supplement with stone> heavy books or irons to add to the pressure. Sheets of corrugated pasteboard placed between the blotters, by allowing a current of air to pa-s through are thought to hasten the drying process. ^Vhen ready to put them in press, lay the gathered ^IK'cimens arranged as ^racefullv as pos-dble separately,' 122 American Fern Journal each with its label beside it, within folded sheets of the white paper (newspaper stock, or newspapers may be used if more convenient). Carefully straighten out with a fine brush or small pointed stick any crumpled pin- nules. Each white sheet containing the fronds to be pressed should be placed between two of the gray felt papers, then one of the corrugated pasteboards, the gray again and so on. The gray blotters should be changed for fresh dry ones at least once within the first twenty- four hours (oftener will do- no harm) and it is well to change again two or three times within the next few days. The blotters when removed should be dried in the sun or other warm place in readiness to be used again. The filled press should also be left in a warm place to . hasten the drying process and so perhaps help to pre- serve the color. The specimens should be left untouched in the white paper until quite dry, changing only the gray felt. How best to preserve the color of dried specimens seems to be an unsolved problem. Sometimes they will remain green and fresh looking for years, again some will quickly turn brown without apparent reason. To absorb the moisture from them as quickly as possible would seem to be one important factor, and perhaps the age of the leaf at the time of gathering may be another. It is said that powdered salicylic acid or boric acid sprinkled on them before drying, or laying them between papers dipped in a solution of one of these, will preserve their color, but I do not know whether or not this has been proven. Certainly it is not generally practiced, but it would be an interesting experiment to try. Cambridge, Mass. Recent Fern Literature 123 Recent Fern Literature One of the most interesting phases of Dr. Benedict's study of the forms of the Boston fern, the investigation of the progeny raised from spores of the single fertile form so far known (christened fcrtilis), has now reached a stage where it is possihle to report on it. The origin of fertUis is not certainly known, but it is supposed to be a bud sport of the common commercial variety Piersoni, which it closely resembles except in being abundantly fertile and in a coarser texture quite like that of the wild (.raltata. Its progeny of the first generation showed very great variability ; among 200 sporelings it produced forty distinguishable forms, ranging, in leaf cutting, from a once-pinnate type superficially the same as the original exaltata to one nearly thrice-pinnate, and vary- ing also in other characters. A considerable proportion have proved fertile. From plants of four of these forms, selected to show different types of variation, second generation spore cul- tures were made. Two of these were remarkable for their uniformity, in sharp contrast to the wide variability shown in the first generation. In the other two the range of variation, though considerable, was less than in the first generation cultures, and in both cases the indi- vidual plants selected as parents were themselves un- stable in the degree of division of their leaves. The few new forms produced were due to progressive variation. Evidently, the behavior of these second generation sporelings is of much interest. For if it be at all gen- erally true that new forms, once produced, tend to so considerable an extent to stabilize and reproduce them- selves with little new variation and that little progressive (that is, developing further characters already present), then much light is thrown on the manner in which new 124 American Fern Journal species may be produced and established in the wild. As Dr. Benedict points out, there seems every likelihood that the processes involved are the same. 1 Saving the Hart's Tongue. — Acting on the plan that the best way to save our plants is to propagate and so increase the existing number, the spore culture of Hart's Tongue fern was started some months back in the Brook- lyn Botanic Garden, from leaves sent by Professor Petrie, of the State College of Forestry, Syracuse, New York. The spores were sown in eight-inch pans, and a good germination was obtained. During the past summer, the prothallia reached full size in many cases, and the young sporophytes began to appear. The earliest of these, about one hundred, were picked out and some of them are now showing several small leaves. The remaining prothallia have been separated and given more space and are in healthy condition. Eventually there should be at least one thousand new plants. These will be available for distribution to those who may be interested to try to naturalize them. Lime stone loca- tions are probably necessary, although it is possible that fair growth might take place in the absence of limestone. The propagation of these ferns is simple requiring for the first ten months only two or three square feet of greenhouse space for the spore pans. As the plants reach larger size in the coming spring, they can be set out in lath shade for another season's growth outdoors; although probfil.ly most of them will be large enough for distribution during the coming spring. I do not recall any definite estimate of the total population of Hart's Tongue plants in New York State, but it would 1 Benedict, R. 0. Variation among the sporelings of a fertib sport of the Boston fern. Journ. Heredity 15: 379-394, figs. 8-16; 421-431, figs. 4-9. 1924. American Fern Society 125 be very simple for any one to multiply that population many times at the expense of a small amount of green- house space, and relatively little care and attention. The same plan followed for other ferns and for native flowering plants is suggested as fundamentally the most important conservation method. — R. C. Benedict, Brook- lyn Botanic Garden. American Fern Society A field meeting of New England members of the - V/J- X^t* ^x* & Society was held at Monterey, Mass.. August 18 to 23, 1925. The place was chosen— indeed, the meeting was held at all — largely through the kindness of Mrs. J. H. Parker, a member who has a summer residence at Mon- terey. The interest shown by the proprietors of the Brook Bend Tavern and of Ledgehurst also helped to make it possible: and without the active and cordial assistance of Miss Addie Jayne and Mr. S. W. Bailey it could not have been the succes>, it was. The first day was more than warm and, with Miss Jayne as guide, the party sought the woods along the Konkapot River, where dwarf scouring rush and many woodland ferns were found, and fine patches of oak and long beech ferns duly admired. In the afternoon Miss Jayne led us to "Hall's Sugar Bush" to hunt for Woodsias on drv limestone ledges. In seeking to cool off in the wet meadow below Ophioglossum was found. Next day Miss Jayne took us to a very attractive spot known as Hyde's Ravine to see the walking fern, and the rich old woods nearby produced Goldie's fern and the narrow -leaved spleenwort. In the afternoon a hill- side where Mrs. Parker had found a crested silvery 126 American Fern Journal spleenwort was visited, but the place had been cut over and the plant was not found again. The heat was so fierce that we soon sought the shelter of the cool woods on the Parker land on the shore of Lake Garfield. One day we devoted to limestone "cobbles" and the "Bear's Den" in the township of Sheffield. Mr. Bailey showed us where the rare hybrid, Asplenium eb en aides, and its parents, and also Woodsia obfusa and Pellaea atropurpurea, grew. At lunch time he gave us a treat by exhibiting his charming colored slides of ferns and orchids. On another day the party, again led by g Mr. Bailey, climbed Monument Mt., Stockbridge, to see his station for Asplenium montanum, and waded through a Lenox swamp in search of wood fern hybrids. Won- derful patches of Dry opt er is hexagonoptera were prop- erly admired. The last day was spent on "Babes' Hill" and in the Quarry Woods, Salisbury, Conn., where Mr. Weatherby took the party to show them Asplenium Euta- muraria, which we had not seen during the week. Some ■ of the party also climbed Mt. Everett, the highest point in southern Berkshire County. The party was honored by being let into a particularly well-kept secret— the fact that for at least fifty years a small colony of climbing fern has existed at Monterey. The net proceeds of the week were fine views, pleasant acquaintances, and a general good time ; and, in the way of plants seen, 50 species and seven varieties and forms of ferns and fern allies. These are as follows: True ferns (nomenclature mostly of the Index Filicum) : Admntum palatum; Asplenium ebenoides, montanum, platyneuron and its forma serratum, Ruta-mumria, and Trichoma nes; Athyrium \fol and angmtum, the last mostly of the var. rubellnm; Camptosorus rhizophyllus; Cystopteris bulbifera and I American Fern Society 127 / fragilis; Dennstaedtia punctilobula; Dryopteris cristata and var. Clintoniana, Goldiana, hexagonoptera, inter- media, Linnaeana, marginalis and its forma elegans, nove- boracensis, Phegopteris, spinnlosa, and Thely pterin; Ly- g odium pal mat u m; Onoclea sensibilis; Osm u nda cmnumo- mea and forma incisa, Claytoniana, and regalis; Pelhiea atropurpu rea; Poly podium virginianu m; Polystich um acrostich aides and forma incision; Pteretis nodulosa: Pteridium latiuscvlum; ^Yoodsia ilvensis and obtusa. Grape ferns: Botrychium obliquum and var. dissection, ramosum, ternatum, var. intermedium, and virgtnuouon; Ophioglossum rulgatum. Horsetails: Equisetum arvense, fluviatile, hyemale, var. affinc, scirpoides, and sylvaticum. Club mosses: Lycopodiion annotinum, var. acri folium, clavatum, complanatum, var. flabeUi forme, lucidulion, obscurum and var. dendroideum; Selaginella rupestris. — Una F. Weatherby. Dr. Ezra Brainerd, a member of the Society since 1911, and a botanist who will be much missed, died at Middlebury, Vt, December 8, 1924, nine days before completing his eightieth year. He was a graduate of Middlebury College and, after being trained for the ministry, returned there to teach in 1868. His intellec- tual attainments were wide and varied ; he served as pro- fessor of English literature, of physics and of mental and moral science, and as president of the college, a Post he held from 1886 to 1908, when he retired. With all these occupations, he maintained an active interest in botany. He collected extensively in Vermont and during journeys to other parts of the country. He was one of the founders of the Vermont Botanical Club in 1895 and its president continuously from that year until his death. He was one of the committee 128 American Fern Journal who compiled the excellent Flora of Vermont, pub- lished in 1900. About that time he was attracted to the stemless violets, and by herbarium study, field observa- tion and the growing and breeding of hundreds of plants in his garden, he was able to show that the many puzz- ling forms they present are largely due to hybridization among a number of related species. His conclusions have been very generally accepted by botanists; it is not often given to an amateur, busy with other things, to make so sound and solid an addition to knowledge. Later, in collaboration with Dr. Peitersen, he applied similar methods to the even more difficult problem of the classification of our blackberries. Their results have been published in two pamphlets on the blackberries of New England. His final words on the violets arc to be found in his "Monograph of North American Violets" (1921) and "Some Natural Hybrids in Viola" (1924), the latter issued just in time for him to see a copy in completed form before his death. Mary Adam Noble, a member of the Society since 1896, its Vice-President from 1917 to 1919, inclusive, and for a time acting President during the disability of Mr. William Palmer, died at her home in Inverness, Florida, February 15, 1925. She was the eldest daugh- ter of Dr. George Adam, of Canaan, Conn., where she was bom August 13, 1847. She was educated at private schools at Canaan and New Haven, and married, at Canaan, Rev. Mason Noble (1832-1916), a graduate of Williams College (1862) and of Union Theological Sem inary (1865), for several years a pastor of the Congre- gational Church at Sheffield, Mass., and afterward pro- fessor of Greek at Talladega College, Alabama. They settled in Florida in 1887, living for about twenty years at Lake Helen, in Volusia County, and then at Inverness. I" American Fern Society 129 in Citrus County. Mrs. Noble was for many years an enthusiastic amateur botanist, interested particularly in ferns and mosses; she was a member of the Sullivant Moss Society from 1916. At one time her herbarium was destroyed by fire, but she worked energetically to repair the loss as far as possible. She contributed twice to the pages of the American Fern Journal (4 : 65, 66, and 6: 42^4), in both instances writing of the rich fern flora of the region in which was located her home at In- verness. One who knew her well has written: "A life of many cares, and among the cares sorrows were her companions at times, but books, and God's out-of-doors, carried her over many a spot where one more self-cen- tered would have failed. ' '—J. H. Barnhart. New Members : Rou Burlingham, Charles L., 2418 Harrison St., Evanston, 111. Cheney, Prof. Ralph H., Dept. Biology, University of New v York, Washin Dane, Mrs. E. B., Boughwood, Chestnut Hill, Mass. Flint, Mrs. Elizabeth, Penryn, Placer Co., Cal. Golding, Mrs. Ada A., Mill River, Mass. Hensley, J. D., 240 Forsyth St., Beaumont, Tex. Johnson, Frank W., 1362 Amherst St., Buffalo, N. Y. Kimber, Miss N. B., Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. Laughlin, Mrs. Charles P., 333 N. Sandusky St., Delaware, Ohio atertown N. Y. Sanford, Mrs. R. M., 528 East Main St., Ravenna, Ohio. Seaman, Miss Helen, 11 Winthrop Place, Maplewood, X. J- Walton, Rev. A. J., Box 913, Logan, W. Va. Ward, Mrs. Isidore T., 618 Berkeley Ave., Orange. X. J. Watkins, Miss Clara E., 249 East 30th St., New York City. Wheeler, Mrs. George C, 276 Haven Ave., New York City. nkler Mi .. Logan, Philadelphia, Pa. 130 American Fern Journal Changes of address : Humphrey, George S., 27 Pine St., New York City. Karam, Mrs. M. W., 4364 Lakewood Drive, Detroit, Mich. Kimball, Miss L. F., Box 50, R. D. No. 1, National City, San Diego Co., Cal. Leeds, Arthur W., Nixon St., above Leverington Ave., Mana- yunk, Philadelphia, Pa. Lowe, Mrs. F. E., 59 State St., Portland, Maine. Sim, R. J., Japanese Beetle Laboratory, Riverton, N. J. Waters, Dr. C. E., 5812 Chevy Chaw Parkway, Washing- ton, D. C. Mr. C. L. Gruber has become a life member. Mr. Allan MaeCaskill, Jr., Colerain, Victoria, Aus- tralia, would like to exchange specimens with members of the society. The hearty thanks of the Journal are proffered to the Smithsonian Institution for the loan of one of the plates accompanying Mr. Leonard 's article in this number and to Mr. Leonard himself for contributir" «««♦!»•*»• ^ tbp illustrations. The Judge of Elections reports as follows : "Charles S. Lewis, Secretary, American Fern Society, Trenton, N. J. Dear Sir: The members of the American Fern Society have elected the following officers for the year 1926, each one having received ninety-four votes. President: William R. Ms. icon, Washington, D. C. Wee-President: Mrs. Carlotta C. Hall, Berkeley, Cal. *^^ £ \ /"I ^* £~\ ^ * fa ^» *w v - m\m "1 *•*** ^_ Charle Treasurer: Jay G. Underwood, Hartland, Vermont. Very truly yours, M. S. Baxter, Judge of Elections f y INDEX TO VOLUME XV Abiitilon Leonardi, 115 Acrostichum excelsum, 72, 78 Adiantum Capillus- Veneris, 107; cristatum, 77. Ill, 114; cune- atum, 112; melanoleucum, 72, 77, 114; pedatum, 126, var. aleu- ticum, 89; tenerum, 72, 77, 114; villosum, 115 Alsophila, 54, 55; aspera, 57; bi- pinnatifida. 56; borinquena, 56; Gleasoni, 55, 56; quadripinnata, 112 American Fern Society, 24, 67, 100, 125 American ferns, new tropical, II, 54; notes on, XX, 16 Andrews, L., 103 Anemia adiantifolia, 114; hirsuta, 112; ph> nitidis, 111; Under- wood ia na, 115 Anisosorus hirsutus, 111 Anogramma chaerophylla, 112 Anopteris hexagon a, 107 Appalachian Aspleniums, the, 47 Arcoa gonavensis, 115 Aspidium simnlatnm, 22; spinu- losum intermedium, 91. See also Dryopteris and Thelypteris Asplenium abscissum, 112; Adi- antum-nigriiTn, 48 ; auritum, 108, 112; Bradleyi, 7, 47, 52, 53, 54; cristatum, 107, 112; cyrtop- teron, 108; dentatum, 77, 114; dimidiatum, 114; ebenoides, 7. 47, 51, 52. 53, 126; flabellulatum, 107, 108; Graveaii, 47, 52, 53; Hemionitis. 63 ; monanthes, 112 ; montanum, 47, 40, 50, 126; mon- teverdense, 107. 112; Nidus, 63; pinnatihdum, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53; platyneuron, 48, 51, 52, 53, 54, 126, f. serratum, 126; praemor- sum, 111, 112; pseudoerectum, 107, 112; resiliens, 48, 51, 53; Ruta-muraria, 47, 48, 50, 126: salieifolium, 108, 112; serra, 108, 112; Sintenisii, 10-S ; Stotleri, 47, 52; Trichomnnes, 126; Trudelli, 47, 49 Aspleniums, 47, 51, 53, 54; Appa- lachian, 47 Athyrium acrostichoides, 126 ; angustifolium, 126; angustum, 1-6; var. rubellum, 126; Filix femina, 40 Azolla caroliniana, 78 Baldey press, 2 Harnhakt, J. H., Mary Adam Noble, 128 begonia Abbottii, 115 Benedict, R. C. Report of edi- tors for 1924, 31; saying the hart's-tongue, 124; variation among the sporelings of a fer- tile sport of the 3oston fern (rev.), 123 BlGELOW, H. C, 103 Bis sell, C. H., obituary, 101 Blechnum occidentale, 108, 111, 112; Spicant, 63 Botrychium, 7, 13, 33, 120; < -icu- tarium, 108, 111, 112; dissectum, ss : obliquum, 1, 2, 88, 127, var. dissectum, 127, var. tenuifolium, 1, 2; onondagonse, 87; ramo- sum, 127; silaifolium. 88; ter- natum, var. intermedium, 127; virginianum, 88, 127 Brainerd, E.. obituary, 127 Brake, 83; cliff, Hi Cajanus indicus, 74 Camptosorus, 48, 51; rhizophyl- lus, 47, 126 Cheilanthes aemula, 17, 18; ala- bamensis, 16: castanea, 18; Eatoni. IS; gracillima, 18; la- nosa. 3; Leonardi, 112; micro- mera, 112; microphylla, 17, 72. 77; Moritziana, 17; tomentosa, 3, IS CHRISTENSEN, C, plantae sinen- ses a Dre. II. Smith annis 11)21- 22 lectae (rev.), 63 Clark son, E. H.. spinulose ferns of Tim Pond, Me., 22 Cliff brake, 84; purple, 3, 64; slender, 64 : smooth, 3 Club-moss, 127 Coccoloba neurophylla, 115 Conard, it. s., a manual of the ferns and fern-allies of Grinnell and vicinity (rev.), 65 Conocarpus, 71. 77; erectus, 74 Corne. F. E. ; ferns— facts and fancies jibour them, IV, 13; v, 57; VI. SO; VII, 118; fragrant Massachusetts fern. 21 Crawford, J. A., hardy ferns (rev.). 6^ Croton ehaerodus ^onavensis, 115; origanifolius abbreviatus, 115 Cyathea asperula, 112; Hier- onymi, 108 Cyclopeltis semicordata, 77 Cyrtomium, 85 Cvstopteris bulbifera, 44, 3W*. frarilis, 65. 127. See also Filix 132 Index Dal a on Scolopendrium vulgare, 90 Degbner, O., four new stations of Lycopodium prothallia (rev. ) , Dennstaedtia globulifera, 107, 112; ordinata, 111, 112; rubiginosa', Dicksonia, 14, 118 Dicliptera obtusifolia eiliifera, 115 Dieranopteris flexuosa, 111; fur- cata, 111 Didymoehlaena truncatula, 107 Diplazium Fuertesii, 111. 112; hastile. Ill, 112; Leonardii, 112; Tussaeii, 108, 112; onilobum, 108, 111, 112 Doryopteris pedal a, 111 Dryopteris, 45, 54; Abbottiana, 112; alata, 108, 117; asplenioi- des, 108, 111; eristata, 127, var. Chntoniana, 127; dentieulata, 108; dilatata, var. americana, 23; effusa confinis, 108, 112; Germaniana, 112; Goldiana, 127; guadal upon sis. 77; hexagonop- tera 126, 127; intermedia, 23, Wi+Pl**?**** 127: m ar^nalis, -o' JtT' f - ele SBtkB 9 127; normalis, '■5,114; noveboraeensis, 127; oli- ffooarpa, 111, 112: oligophylla, A ~a l) &??? h £> 112 > Patens 73, 19,108,111,114; patula, 112: Phegoptens 127; pubescens ha tiensis, ill, 112; reptans, 107 r ,,~ i - 1 '-? 12 '" sanc *a, 107; seolo pendnoides, 114 ; serra, 72, 79, 108, 114; spmulosa, 23, 127- te- tragona, 114; Tholypteris, 'l27. fcee also Aspidium and Thelyp- Elaphoglossum huacsaro, 112- 108; pheatum 112; simplex, 108, m ' ' 112 ; toyaT ™se, E 3i li ^ta, 8, 9; aestivalia, 35, 36, ii ; 5S te £?S >b L adica ' 36: hiberna, 11, 36, 3<; primitiva, 10, 11 L.ni.setum 9; arvense, 36, 37, M ^ otense - :r> - 36 ' de - vc %? KW™%? m > 3r,: n^viatile, 35, 3<, 127; Fnnstoni, 12; gi- ganteum ,10, 11, 35, 39, 111; hyemale, 10, 11, var. affine, 127 kansanum 12; laevigatum, 10, 2, 6.): Martii, 10; myrioehae- altnm, 10, 11; pratense. 36 37- p>nunnlnle 10; ramosissimnm; iV la ^4> ffn T* 10 » scirpoides Jk 3 & i 127; s >' lv aticum, 36, 37, 127; Telmateia, 36, 37, 39; vari- ^V™^ 1 ' 36; xy^haetnm, 10, Equisetum, main lines of evolu- tion in, I, 8; II, 35 Evolution in Equisetum, main lines of, I, 8; II, 35 Facts and Fancies about ferns, IV, 13; V, 57; VI, SO: VII, 118 Fern, bladder, 83: Boston, 14, 33, 61. 85, 123; bulblet bladder, 33: chain, 14, 22; Christmas. 15, 63, 82, 93, 119 ; cinnamon, 22, 66, 82, 93, 98; abnormal fruiting in, 66; notes on, 93: climbing, 14, 64, 126; dagger, 16; female, 40, 41, 42, 43; ghost, 119; Goldie's. 125; gossamer. 119; grape, 2. 13, 64, 65, 120, 127; hart's- tongue, 62, 65, 124; hay-scented, 14, 118; holly, 85; interrupted, 13, 83, 93; lace, 15; lady, 13, 82; long beech, 12.»; maidenhair. 9 male, 40, 41, 42, 43, 8 o marginal, SH, 119; marginal shield, 15; Massachusetts, 21, 22; fragrant, 21; oak, 125; os- trich, 16, 60, 82; prairie, 6.">: rock-cap, 3, 5; royal, 13; sen- sitive, 22, 119; shield, 60; spinu- lose. 15, 22: bread-leaf, 23; evergreen, 23; spinulose shield, 82, 119; Virginia chain, 60; walking, 61, 125; wood, 104 Fern collecting in Haiti, I, 69; II, 107; finds in Virginia, 1: finds, unusual, 87; literature, recent, 19, 62, 98, 123 Ferns, facts and fancies about, IV. 13, V, 57: VI, 80; VII, 118; flowering, 16; new tropical American, II, 54 ; notes on American, XX, 16; spinulose. of Tim Pond, 22 Filix, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45; bul- bifera, 45; femina, 40, 41, 42, 43. 45; Mas. 40. 41, 42, 43, 45; ra- mosa, 43. See also Cystopteris Filix, proper use of the name, 40 Floyd, F. G., 104 <;adeau t>e Kerville, H., not<* sur les fougeres (rev.), 63 Galactia rudolphioides haitiensis, 115 Goddard, Miss M. K., obituary, 21 Gr&SS, snake, 65 Greenbrier, 2 Guettarda spin if era, 117 Habenaria clavellata, 1; lacera. 1 : repens, 1 Haiti, fern collecting in, I, 69; II, 107 ' Hart's-tongue, 33, 90, 124; sav- ing the, 12 1 Horsetails, 127 Hura crepitans, 70 Index 133 Hymenophyllum axilla re, 112: fu- coides, 112; microcarpum, 112; sericeum, 112 Hypolepis hispaniolica, 112 Isodorea Leonardi, 117 Isoetes, 98, 09 Kittredge, E. M., notes on cin- namon forns, 93 Leonard, E. C, fern collecting in Haiti, I, 69: II, 107 Leonardi a haitiensis, 114 Lewis, O. S., report of the secre- tary for 1924, 28: Washington meeting of the Society, 32 Lycopodium, 9, 19. 08, 99; anno- finum, var. ncrifolnim, 127: cernunm, 112: clavatnm, 19, 112, 127; complnnatum, 20. 21, 99, var. flnbelliformo, 20. 21, 127: dichotorrmm, 112: Fawcettli, 111: flnbelliforme. 99: lucidn lnm, 127: ob sen rum, 19. 21, 127, var. dendroideum, 20, 21, 127; polymornhum, 114: reflexnm 112; gabinaefolium, 99: sit- rhense. 99: tnxifolium, 112 Lygodium, 14; palmatum, 127 Lyonia furcyensis, 117 McCotL, W. R., data on Scolo- pondrium vulgare, 90 Mackenzie, K. K., proper use of the name Filix, 40 Maine, the spinulose ferns of Tim Pond, 22 Ifalpiorhia micropetala, 117 Marsdenia dictyophylla, 117 Marshall, Miss M. A., obituary, 67 Maxon, W, K.. ferns as a hobby (rev.), 99; now tropical Amer- ican ferns. II, r>4; notes on American ferns. XX, 18; report of the president for 1924, 26 Moomvorts, 13. 87 Mofsley, H., unusual fern finds, 87 Murrill, W. A., abnormal fruit- ing in the cinnamon fern, (yd Neoabbottia paniculata, 117 Nephrolepis. 85; cordifolia. 107, 108, 111, 112; oxaltata, 123; ex- altata bostoniensis fcrtilis, 123; pectinata. 108 Norle, Mrs. M. A.,- obit nary, 128 Notes on American ferns, XX, 16; on cinnamon ferns, 66, 93 Notholacna bonariensis. 112; sin- uata, 73; trichomanoides, 114; trichomanoides pilosa, 73 Nyssa, 2 Obituaries: Pissell, C. H., 101; Brainerd, E., 127; Goddard, ■ < Miss M. K., 24; Marshall, Miss M. A., 67; Noble, Mrs. M. A., 128; Pember, F. T., 24 Odontosoria acnleata, 112 Onoclea, 16; sensibilis, 22, 37, 127 Ophioglossum, 21, 125; vulgatum, 88, 127 Osmunda. 83: cinnamomea, 22, 37, 66, 127, f. bipinnatifida, 05, 97, f. incisa, 9.1, 127. var. au- riculata, 95, var. frondosa, 97; Claytoniana, 13, 37, 127; re- galis, 13, 127 Osmunda, cinnamon, 16, 59, 82. 83; interrupted, 60, 82 Pellaea atropurpurea, 126, 127; glabella, 2 Pember, F. T., obituary, 24 Phyllitis Scolopendrium, 33 Pine, pond, 2 Pinus serotina, 2 Piperaceae, 117 Pitvrogramma calomelaena, 7< ; schizophylla, 112; sulphurea, 112; tart area, 108, 112, 114 Polvgonum amphibium, 103; Hartwrightii, 103 Polvpodium, 42, 44; angustifol- ium, 107, 112, 114: aurcum. 10^ 111, 114; crassifolium, 108, 114; cultratum, 111; exiguum, 77: lanceolatum, 114; lasiopus. 114; leucosticton, 114; loriceum, 108, 111; otitos, 107, 112, 114: oxy- pholis. 114: pectinatum, 108, 114; piloselloides, 108: plumula, 114; polypodiodes, 77: rigens, 114; squamatum, 107, 114; vex- atum. 111, 114; virginianum, ± 5. 37, 127. f. acuminatum, •>. 89, f.'cambricoides, 89, f. delt- oideum, 3, 88, f. eloiigatum, 89: vulrore, 3, var, cambnrum, 89: vulpinum, 108. 114, 117 Polypody, 83, 84, 119; common, 3 15 Polvstichum acrostichoides. 37, 127, f. incisum, 127: aculeatum, 63: echinatum. 114; Lonchitis, 91; lnachacrophyllum, 114: mu- ricatum, 108; polystichiform<\ 112, 114; triangulum, 111, 114; tripteron, 63 Polvtaenium lineatum, ION .u* Proper use of the name Filix, 4U Prosopis juliflora, 74 Pterctis nodulosa, 12* Pteridium aquilinum, f. undu la- tum, 63; arachnoideum, 108, 111; caudatum, 77; latiusculur 127. See also Pteris Pteris, 42, 45; iqmlina 40 43, biaurita, 114: hispaniolica, 108, longifolia, 72, 77, 108 114; po- dophvlla, 114: quadriaunta, 112, 114. See also Pteridium 134 Index Report of the editors for 1924, 31; judge of elections, 31; presi- dent, 26; secretary, 28; treas- urer, 29 Reviews: Benedict, R. C, varia- tions among the sporelings of a fertile sport of the Boston fern, 123; Christensen, C, plantae sinenses a Dre. II Smith annis 1921-22 lectae, 63; Tonard, II. s„ manual of the ferns and fern-allies of Grin- nell and vicinity, 65; Crawford, J. A., hardy ferns, 64; Degener, O., four new stations of Lv- copodium prothallia, 21; Ga- dea.i de Kerville, H., notes sui- tes fougeres, 63; Max on, W. R., ferns as a hobby, 99: Stokev. A, G., and Starr, A. M., Lvco- podium prothallia in western Massachusetts, 19; Victorin, Fr Marie-, les lyeopodin£es dii Quebec et leurs formes min- eures, 98 Salvia Abbottii, 117 Schai fxer, J. II., main lines of evolution in Equisetum, I, 8; Scolopendrium vulgare, 90: data on. 90 Selaginella, 98,99; Leonardi, 107 neomexicana, 19; rupestris, 127 : stolonifera, 77 Smilax, 2 Spleenwort, ebony, 84; maiden- hair, 84; narrow-leaved, 125: , Scott's, 64: silvery, 125 A RI ^.^* M *> Lycopodium pro- thallia in western Massachu- setts (rev.), 19 Stokey, A. G., Lycopodium pro- thallia in western Massachu- setts (rev.), 19 Struthiopteris Tuerckheimii, 108, 111, 114 Tabebuia gonavensis, 117 Taxodiuin distichum, 2 Tectaria heracleifolia, 77, 114 : hippoerepis, 77, 107; martini- censis. 114 Thelypteris, 43, 45; Sim u lata, 5. See also Aspidium and Dry op - teris Todea barbara, 37 Trichomanes Krausii, 113, 114; rad leans, 114 Tupelo, 2 UxDERWoon, J. G., report of the treasurer for 1924, 29 Unusual fern finds, 87 Victorix, Fr. Maris, Les lyeopo- dinees du Quebec et leurs formes mineures (rev.), 98 Virginia, some fern finds in, 1 Viuaria filifolia, 114 Washington eiety, 32 Weatherbv, t o rs f o r Humphrey Wherry, E. meeting of the So- C. A., report of edi- 1924, 31 ; Charles Bissell, 101 T., Appalachian As- pleniums, 47; some fern finds in Virginia, 1 Wixslow, E. J., report of the editors for 1924, 31 Woodsia, 125; ilvensis, 127; ob- tusa, 126, 127 Woodwardia, 15; areolata, 22 Errata Page 56, lines 1 and 5: for bipinnatifidtim read Upinnatifida Page 98, first line of foot-note: for and read et. THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB MEMBERSHIP Including Bulletin, Memoirs, and Torreya, $5.00 a year PUBLICATIONS Bulletin. Monthly, established 1870. Price, $4.00 a year; single numbers 40 cents. Of former volumes, only 24-47 can be ^applied separately. Manuscripts intended for publication in the Bulletin should be addressed to Tracy E. Hazen, Editor, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York City. Torreya. Bi-monthly, established 1901. Price, $1.00 a year. Manuscripts intended for publication in Torreya should be addressed to George T. Hastings, Editor, Bobbins Place, Yonkers, N. Y. Memoirs. Occasional, established 1889. Price, $3.00 a volume. Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteridophyta within 100 miles of New York City, 1888. Price, $1.00. Subscriptions and other business communications should b addressed to the Treasurer, Dr. E. C. Benedict, Brooklyn Botani Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y. FOR ALL PLANT STUDENTS There is only one magazine of popular Botany in America. It began with the present century and is still un- technical. It has published nearly 4,000 botanical articles with- out a single duplication. Society. Am Quarterty, 48 pages, $1.50 Sampl The American Botanist, Joliet, 111 (We offer vols. 8-20, Fern Bulletin, for $8 postpaid.) The Science Press Printing Company Printers of Scientific and Educational Journals, Monographs a. e. urban. and Books v»en. Manager Information furnished, and detailed estimates submitted Lime and Green Sts., Lancaster, Penna. THE BRYOLOGIST PUBLISHED BY THE SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY The only magazine in English wholly devoted to Mosses, Hepaties, and Lichens. Bimonthly ; illustrated ; for the beginner as well as for the professional- Yearly subscrip- tion in the United States, $1.25. Twenty-five cents addi- tional gives membership in the SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY, with free services of Curators for beginners. ADDRESS A. TENNYSON BEALS 2929 Broadway NEW YORK CITY This Free Catalog Lists Field and Herbarium Equipment WAVERLEY Designed by Botanists Collecting Cases Fern Trowels Plant Presses Hand Lenses Pelt Driers Field Picks Genu3 Covers Mounting Papers Write to-day for Catalog F 91 ICAL SUPPLY COMPANY MASS., U. S. A. Ammratt 3nn Journal A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO FERNS Published by the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY » EDITORS R. C. BENEDICT E. J. WINSLOW C A. WEATHERBY J? VOLUME XVI 19 2 6 , ' k v \ AUBURNDALE, MASS. CONTENTS * Volume 16, Number 1, Pages 1-32, Issued March 11, 1926 Soil Preferences of three Adder Vtongues E. T. Wherry 1 Wood-ferns on Mt. Desert Island, Maine E. T. Wherry 3 New Tropical American Ferns — III W. E. Maxon 7 Ferns of the Marcy Region C. S. Lewis 10 The Quest of Thelypteris augeseens G. L. Moxley 17 Ferns— Facts and Fancies about Them F. E. Come 20 Shorter Notes _ 24 American Fern Society 31 Volume 16, Number 2, Pages 33-70, Issued June 29, 1926 Saving the Hart Vtongue. H. D. House, H. E. Bansier, B. C. Benedict 33 Equisetum variegatum Nelsoni a good Species ..J. B. Schaffner 45 Some Notes on the New Hybrid Aspleniums E. W. Graves 48 A Few More Fern Finds L. A. Wheeler 50 Recent Fern Literature 54 Fern Collecting in Mexico G. L. Fisher 57 New Plant Conservation Laws B. C. Benedict 59 Forked and crested Forms of Ferns C. A. Weatherby 60 American Fern Society 60 Volume 16, Number 3, Pages 71-102, Issued Sept. 28, 1926 Gathering Ferns in New Zealand B. B. Bobbie 71 A Remarkable Fern Habitat /. B. Schaffner 79 On the Trail of Equisetum for Four Thousand Miles. /. B. Schaffner 81 The West Virginia Locality of the Southeastern Relative of Woodsia Scopulina 1. E. T. Wherry 92 Down Deep i. B. Lombard 95 Asplenium Gravesii in West Virginia M. Brooks Azolbt caroliniana in Utah A. O. Garrett 98 A Remarkable Form of Walking Fern American Fern Society <>7 99 100 Volume 16, Number 4, Pages 103-136, Issued Jan. 14, 1927 James H. Ferriss 103 Observations on the Woolly Lipfern E. T. Wherry 1 Imperfectly Circinate Vernation in Ferns C. A. Weatherby 109 The Ferns of Barro Colorado Island B. O. StandJey 112 Recent Fern Literature 120 Ferns of Cornwall, Connecticut C. C. Foote 124 Abnormal Forms of Botryehium simplex A. E. Lillibridge 127 American Fern Society • 128 Index to Volume 16 - l33 *-. Vol. 16. January-March, 1926 No. 1 Ammratt 3nw Journal Hfc*****» A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO FERNS Published by tbc AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY 4» EDITORS R. C. BENEDICT WINSLOW C. A. WEATHERBY P CONTENTS Soil Preferences of three Adder's-Tongues.E. T. Wherry 1 Wood-Ferns on Mt. Desert Island, Maine.E. T. Whirry 3 New Tropical American Ferns-III W. B-. Maxqs * Ferns of the Marcy Region C - S ; LeWI9 The Quest of Thelypteris augescens 6- L> iIoXLE1 Ferns them VIH.-F. E-Corne Shorter Notes: Marsilea vestita in western Canada. Botrychium dissectum. Another Station for L>co- Podium Prothallia. Lygodiuro palmatum m tm shire County, Mass. Cryptogramma StelIe " viri A» in lTt*h. One Way to grow Fern*. aim Woodsia in Fern Society 24 31 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION. $1.25 ; FOREl^ »i-» AUBURNDALE. MASS. ^ -W- Act of October 3. 1917. anthorized on July 8, um /^- A.* r ■ ■ ^ ®t?? Amrrtran Mtxn &flrt?tg 1923 > °y William R. Maxon and Alfred D. Harvey (no. 7980). The present species belongs to the small group of P. marginellum Sw., discussed by the writer several years ago, 2 and is presumably the plant reported from Costa Rica by Christ 3 as P. marginellum, a species which ap- parently is restricted to Jamaica. It is most nearly al- lied to P. nigrolimbatum Jenman, of Jamaica and north- Hess i which also have the sterile veins simple and the sori borne near the costa. P. nigrolimbatum differs notably, however, in its numerous rigid, stiffly erect, semi-opaque, narrower fronds, the margins more strongly sclerotic; Hess subcaudate apices, its sharply embossed veins, and thin- ner leaf-tissue. In both these species the veins diverge at a more acute angle (30°-35°). 2 Bull. Torrey Club 42: 219-225. 1915. 3 Bull. Herb. Boiss. II. 4: 1101. 1904. New Tropical American Ferns — III 9 Notholaena Ekmani Maxon, sp. no v. Rhizome nodose-multicipital, the divisions short, close, ascending, densely paleaceous, the scales tufted, rigid, acicular, 2-3 mm. long, brownish-fuscous, lustrous, spi- nescent-ciliate. Fronds numerous, fasciculate, erect or rigidly ascending, 15-25 cm. long, the stipes shorter than the blades, dark brown, sublustrous, deciduously brown- setose; blades narrowly linear, 8-13 mm. broad, simply pinnate, the rachis similar to the stipe ; pinnae numerous, alternate or subopposite, subdistant to remote, slightly oblique, stalked (1-2.5 mm.), broadly oblong, 4-7 mm. long, 2.5-4 mm. broad, rounded at apex, articulate at the subcordate base, coarsely crenate or crenately lobed on both margins (lobes or crenations 3 or 4 pairs, the basal ones largest), thick-herbaceous, rigid, distantly waxy- glandular above or densely so at the roundish pulvinus, beneath densely white-ceraceous, scales and hairs wholly wanting; veins immersed, freely branched; sori in a narrow submarginal line, nearly concealed by the cera- ceous covering. Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 1,147,823, collected on steep eruptive rocks in open situations near Rio Piloto, Sierra de Nipe, Oriente Province, Cuba, July 30, 1914, by Erik L. Ekman (no. 2313). Known also from Ekman 6004 and 10011, collected at the same locality in 1915 and 1919, and from a specimen collected in the gorge of the Rio Naranja, near Woodfred, in the same province, by J. F. Kemp in August, 1914. The altitudinal range is from 200 to 630 meters. Notholaena Ekmani is related to N. trichomanoides (L.) R. Br., of the Greater Antilles, but is immediately distinguished by its much narrower blades, by its setose stipes and rachis, and by the complete absence of stellate -cales throughout. Washington, D. C. 10 American Fern Journal Ferns of the Marcy Region C. S. Lewis People who know the Adirondacks know that Mt. Marcy, the Cloud Cleaver, Tahawus, as the Indians called it, lifts its head above the rest of the high moun- tains which stretch in every direction from this, the highest peak in the whole district. It has been my good fortune to spend several summers in Keene Valley ; and, with my son, to climb these mountains and in woods and ravines and along the cliffs to hunt for the ferns of the district. We have had "good hunting" and the story of our finds ought to be shared with the rest of the American Fern Society. One reaches this district of the Adirondacks from the east by the high road through Elizabethtown, whence north-bound roads carry us to the Poko-Moonshine terri- tory in Essex County near Willsboro. The road to Keene, after reaching the ridge drops down to the Au Sable valley by way of Spruce Hill. Here one finds, a swamp which yielded fine specimens and some interesting Thelypteris (Dryopteris) hybrids. At the foot of the hill the dirt road takes one up into Keene Valley and at last to the Au Sable Lakes. Towering over them to the north is ' ' The Range, ' ' a series of high peaks which lead by stiff trails to Haystack and Marcy. North from Marcy one finds Mclntyre, one of the great mountain^ of this whole district, with steep cliffs and stiff ascents, separated from its neighbors by the Avalanche Pass on the one side and by Indian Pass on the other. Out be- yond lies Heart Lake, and still further Lake Placid. From Placid, back by way of North Elba, we come along the Cascade Lakes by the State Road to Keene, and after a bit find ourselves at the foot of Spruce Hill again. Ferns of the Marcy Region 11 This, roughly described, is our territory; high moun- tains whose summits in most cases lie above the tree line, their sides clothed with hard woods on the lower levels that yield to birch and spruce and balsam as one climbs to the top. In many places we find great cliffs and preci- pices as well as lowly ledges which afford fine footholds for the rock-loving ferns. The rocks of this territory are ancient, Marcy being one of the oldest places on the earth according to geologists. But one finds no lime- stone in the territory and so we miss the lime-loving ferns. In spite of this limitation the numbers are sur- prising and interesting and unusual ferns call us to hunt them out. Under date of September, 1924, the New York State Museum published an Annotated List of Ferns and Flowering Plants of New York State. This was pre- pared by Dr. Homer D. House, State Botanist, and is based to a large extent upon the collections and records available. The section of the ferns was edited by Dr. Maxon, our President, and is an exceptionally interesting record. It is far from a mere list. In the account which follows I am using the nomenclature of this Annotated List and have accepted the same order of species. I have also had the advantage of a careful eheck-up on the rarer ferns by Dr. House and Mr. Weatherby to both of whom I want to express my thanks. We found in swamps and wet meadows, and not in- frequently, fine specimens of the Adder's Tongue (Opkio- glossum vulgatum). There was considerable variation in size ; generally, from our experience, due to the depth of the grass in which the fern is growing. We have found this same characteristic in many other places. The Botrychium group was most interesting. On the sides of a path along an old trail leading up Big Slide, and especially in a grassy place where the trail crossed 12 American Fern Journal a small brook, we made, this summer, some interesting finds. B. negUctum Wood (B. matricariaefolium Milde, in part, or B. ramosum (Roth) Aschers, in part), was frequent. "We found it small, we found it large. One of our specimens, found down in the valley, measures at least a foot in height. Some of the smaller plants up on the trail approximated the forma gracile described by Dr. House, though he thinks they are rather small or dwarf specimens of the B. neglectwn. But best of all we found several specimens of the lance-leaved grape fern, B. angustisegmentum (Pease & Moore) Fernald, which seems to be hitherto recorded in the higher Adi- rondacks only once, and that in the North Elba report of Dr. Peek. Neither this nor the B. neglectwn had been reported save in this one instance by Peck from the higher eastern Adirondack region, but Dr. House writes that he "has reason to believe that it (B. neglectum) is common there," at least it is rather locally common in North Hudson, Newcomb and Long Lake townships. With this our own experience, in Marcy district, would agree. The obliquum group we found fairly abundant. In one dry pasture, above John 's Brook, the ground was full of the plants, and most of the variations should be re- ported from the district. B. obliquum, B. dissectwn and B. silaifolium were common. The var. oneidense, of the first-named, and B. matricariae, were exceptional. There were no stations here of B. simplex, though my son found it near Willsboro in the lower mountains, and Dr. House tells me it is really common in Newcomb Township. B. virginianum was frequent, but we were too late to find it in proper fruitage, and so could not be sure of the variations described by Butters, though I feel confident that early July would disclose one or two of them. The Osmundas were all present, though we did not find the variations of the cinnamon fern. B. regalis, var. Ferns of the Marcy Region 13 spectabilis was less common than its cousins, 0. cinna- momea and 0. Clayt oniana. We found it by Chapel Pond, and in a wet spot on the lower reaches of The Twins. So, too, we found quantities of Onoclea sensi- bilis with an occasional example of var. obtusilobata. And there were splendid stations of Pteretis nodulosa. The Woodsias have always appealed to us, and many, many times have we hunted for them. This is the richest district for them we have ever visited. Along the exposed rocks and pretty constantly, one will find the Rusty Woodsia, W. ilvensis. But over in Avalanche Pass Ave found our treasure trove, The day was wetter than one can describe, every ledge and cliff showed a waterfall; but what cared we ! With a shout of joy my son called me to see what he had found. It was Woodsia glabella, large plants and many of them. The older lists had given it at Avalanche Pass, so we were on the look-out for it ; but that did not lessen our rejoicing when we saw the smooth green stems and the beautiful plant clusters, which by their shape reminded us of the maiden-hair spleenwort, Our rejoicing was the greater when we learned that further study of the Peck specimens in the Museum W. Glabella that there are only two other recorded stations in New York, one near Little Falls, now extinct, and one in the Catskill Mts. (see Mr. F. W. Kobbe's note on page 29. below). We soon found W. alpina, two small plants, which did not seem to survive the winter, for we could not find them again this past summer. The Woodsia alpina is also reported from the Cascade Lakes (formerly Ed- monds's Pond) but we did not find it there. The Obtuse Woodsia we did not find in this territory but my son found it near Willsboro. Under the cliffs on The Twins we found a peculiarly cut form of the Rusty Woodsia, 14 American Ferx Journal unusually large, which "has all the cut and habit of the w What it is is still a matter of doubt. It is clearly closely akin to, if not a variation of, the W. ilvensis. There were two large stations of it, and not far away from it, i.e., within ten feet, other stations of the normal W. ilvensis. The bladder ferns, Filix fragilis and F. bulbifera, were present, and fairly frequent. The fragile bladder fern was, as usual, exceedingly variable according as it grew in wet or damp places. On the rocks of The Twins and also on the big cliff over Cascade Lake we found a boreal form which is unusual but "matched by several others from the northern part of the state/' Its appearance is quite unlike the normal fragile bladder fern. Along the side of the trail through the Indian Pass we found wonderful specimens of Braun's Holly fern, Poly- stichum Braunii. Some of the fronds were, by measure, at least three feet long. The fern was abundant in a small area. So too it was in a deep gorge on the side of The Twins, and up in the meadow below the Au Sable Lakes. Occasional specimens were found in the Ava- lanche Pass. Its cousin, P. acrostichoides, is common all through the territory, with interesting variations in margin, passing from the smooth edges to the deeply cut form, forma incisum. Of the Lady ferns one naturally finds only the north- ern form, though there are several of the variations of this. We have identified Athyrium angustum; var. elatius; var. rubellum; forma elegans; and forma con- fertum. The only other Athyrium we found was A. thelypteroides, but we would note that we saw both sorts, the small light green form which is so like a young lady fern, and the large dark blue-green fronds covered with large sporangia, whose white indusia justify the name,' Silvery Spleenwort, and make it a very different Ferns of the Marcy Region 15 looking fern from its smaller relation. The brake. Pteridium latiusculum, the maiden hair, Adiantum pedatum, and the hay-scented fern, Bennstaedtia puncti- lobula, are all present rather abundantly and without notable variation. So, too, we found lots of the Poly po- dium virginanum, to give the polypody its newer name, both the normal frond and the forms acuminatum and deltoideiim (cf. Fernald, Rhodora 24, p. 141). We did not find the walking fern, Camptosorus rhizo- phyllns, but I saw this summer, in a collection made in Keene Valley many years ago, a specimen which was un- doubtedly this fern and reported as found near the Au Sable Lakes. Perhaps another year we, or some one else, may be able to check this and re-discover the station. It would be most interesting. But on the cliff below the Lower Lake, I found late this summer a fine station of Crypto gramma Stelleri, which we also found on the big cliff by Cascade Lakes. It had been reported from the latter station by Dr. Peck, and is recorded in the Bulle- tin under the name of Edmonds Ponds. Neither of these cliffs are limestone. I have left to the last the most abundant of the Adiron- dack ferns, those of the genus Thelypteris, or, as it is more commonly known, Dryopteris. The floors of the hard- wood forest, especially where the hemlocks mingle with the other trees, seem, at times, fairly carpeted with the Oak fern, T. Dryopteris; and the wet banks on road- side and by the brooks have even thicker mats of the long beech fern, T. Phegopteris, with plants, sometimes, so large that one is sure it is the broad beech fern. But a careful examination proves one mistaken, and T. hex- ag on opt era is not found in this territory. There are the usual and frequent stations of the marsh and the New York ferns, T. Thelypteris, and T. noveboracensis, but we have never found the kindred T. simulata, the Massa- 16 American Fern Journal chusetts fern, in the Adirondack^. When we come to the subgenus, Dryopteris, we have first to report T. fragrans. This we found, as Peck and others before us had done, at Avalanche Lake, but only there. It is found in scattered clumps along one special cliff so far as our records tell. The crested shield fern, T. cristata, was fairly frequent, in suitable locations; as was also T. Boot Hi. In the swamp beside Spruce Hill we found a good deal of T. Clintoniana, as well as of the Boott 'a fern with several hybrids. My son found Goldie's fern, T. Goldiana, on Boreas Mountain, south of Au Sable Lakes at an altitude of 2,500 feet. This is really out of our territory south- ward. The marginal shield fern is found in most of the district, but is not very common. The abundant fern is the spinulose shield fern, with its varieties. T. spinnlosa proper is frequent along the streams and in moist places. T. intermedia, or, if you prefer, T. spinulosa, var. inter- media, grew everywhere and of all sizes. Some of the plants were sufficiently different from the ordinary widely scattered forms to make one wonder at first if it were a new variation. So soon as we began to get into the higher elevation the "Spreading shield fern," ericana more abundant as we came toward the tops of the moun- tains. We recall one piece of trail up Giant where all three grew together, and another place on the top of the "amphitheatre" on the Gothics trail where the ground was literally covered with the great broad fronds of the American form of the "spreading shield fern." There is lack of uniformity in this fern, unless we did not see anght, for sometimes we found indusia which, under the microscope, showed glands in place of the usual smooth mdusium of the normal var. americana. Among the hybrids we found, in the swamp to which I have already referred or elsewhere, T. intermedial The Quest of Thelypteris augescens 17 spinulosa; T. Clint oniana x spinulosa ; T. intermedia x marginalis; T. Clint onianax intermedia; T. Clint oniana x marginalis. To these should be added, technically, T. Boot Hi. It is more than probable that some of the crested hybrids will be found, but we have not yet done so. Counting varieties and forms this makes fifty -three dif- ferent ferns we have listed in the higher Adirondacks. To them should be added from the lower mountains near Willsboro, Botrychium simplex, Woodsia obtusa, and Asplenium trichomanes. This latter fern I also found in fair abundance in the woods on Split Rock Mountains which abuts into Lake Champlain. We have also found in the Keene Valley section the fol- lowing "Fern Allies": Equisetitm hyemale; E. sylvati- cum; E. arvense; E. arvense forma pseudosylvaticum ; E. scirpaides; Lycopodium annotinum; L. complanatum; L. complanatum Chamaecyparissus; L. lucididum; L. clavatum; L. obscuvum ; L. alpinum; L. sitchense: and Selaginella rupestris. The Quest of Thelypteris augescens Okorge L. Moxley Several years ago I noted, growing in a yard in Los Angeles, a very attractive fern which I decided must be what Underwood was then calling Nephrodium patens and later called Dryopteris patens. I tried to learn where the plants had originally been secured but no one seemed to know. Later I saw a single, plant that was said to have been collected in Eaton Canyon, which cuts in between Mt. Lowe and Mt. Wilson, in the San Gabriel Range. It had also been reported by Parish as having 18 American Fern Journal been collected near Santa Barbara, and that seemed to be the extent of available information. I looked for it in Eaton Canyon but failed to locate it and came to the conclusion that either the person had mistaken the Canyon or misinformed me as to the location, or collected all there was. Then, one joyous day, my friend, Mr. Robert Kessler, it me two magnificent fronds of a fern entirely new to him and which proved to be my long-looked-for plant. He found it in Roberts' Canyon, quite a bit to the east of Eaton Canyon, where he said there was "lots of it." Later he reported it from Fish Canyon, in the same neighborhood, but it had never been my lot to be with him when he found it. So we made arrangements to go in quest of it and, on November 8th, 1925, in company with Messrs. L. E. Martindale and M. E. Palleske, we motored to Fish Canyon where he had last collected it. After going some distance up this canyon we climbed over a steep ridge into an un-named canyon just west of it and found the fern growing quite plentifully. It is a very beautiful fern with lanceolate, bipinnate fronds abruptly narrowing to and terminating in a long attenuate cauda which *is simply pinnate and frequently as long as the pinnae. The fronds are usually drooping although some of them are fairly erect when growing in the sun. Some fronds are as much as four feet in length although they average much less. I noted some that were fully developed, carrying the characteristic shape and fully fruited, that were less than a foot h It grows in wet ground in shaded canyons and may be more common that has been supposed. All that we saw — - Description of Plate Thehjpteru augescens (Link) Munz & Johnston, center, and W oodwarcKa Chamissoi Brack., upper and left. Photo by L. E. Martindale. American Fern Journal Volume 16, Plate ^ 20 ' American Fern Journal ■ grew in company with Woodwardia Chamissoi Brack. In some places the Woodwardia grew higher up on the canyon wall and the Thelypteris below? and in other places both were intermingled. In one place Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn, var. pubescens Underw. was mingled with the other two. All along the canyon stream there were large patches of Adiantum capillus-veneris L. growing on the dripping rocky banks. The early rains had started the Pityrogramma triangularis (Kaulf.) Maxon, the Pellaeas and many mosses and hepatics. But the only thing I collected on this trip was this exquisite fern, now called Thelypteris augescens (Link) Munz & Johnston. There was not time to do more and get out of the steep canyon and on the trail before dark. Los Angeles, Cal. Ferns them— VIII F. E. Corne Mounting specimens is a delicate operation which a novice should begin seated comfortably at a good sized table with everything which may be required for the purpose within easy reach, for to stop in the middle of the work in order to look for some forgotten article is almost certain to result in disaster. These necessary things are: Mounting sheets 11% x 16i/ 2 inches of medium or heavy cardboard (or light weight may be used for very small ferns) . A bottle of fish glue. Some prepared gum tragacanth. A pane of glass the size of the mounting sheets. A flat paint brush with long bristles, not less than % inch wide, for spreading the glue. One or two small brushes. Some sheets of white Ferns — Facts and Fancies about them — VIII 21 blotting paper. A quantity of narrow strips of gummed paper or of physician's transparent silk plaster for fastening down obstreperous stems. Seme water in a bowl. A small sponge or a piece of soft old linen. A small pair of scissors. Small pincers. A board, atlas or anything large and heavy enough to cover the newly mounted specimen sheets to- serve as a weight. Labels, either printed which come ready to fill in or a small block of paper on which to copy data, in ink, or of gummed paper cut to order at a printer's. A small quantity of vinegar for thinning out the glue, or printer 's and plasterer's glue may be used for this purpose, or icanth. Never thin glue with water. gum Almost all of these things can be found at a botanical supply store, and it is well to buy at least the papers and the glue at such a place as one is then sure to get just the right kind. Felt paper for pressing and cardboard for mounting come already cut to regulation size. Gum tragacanth is to be had at a drug store in a dry state and a small quantity will go a great way. Soak about a dessert spoonful in a large glass of water until soft, then boil a short time until transparent and of a jelly- like consistency. If then a few drops of some essential oil, like oil of cloves, is added as preservative, it will keep for a long time in a cool place. I find gum tragacanth in- valuable for mounting small delicate ferns instead of glue, and also for thinning out the glue. Beginners are kept to think that mounting sheets 11% * 161 /2 inches are t0 ° small for any but very small ferns and will be tempted to use large sheets for large ferns. But a very little experience will prove that the uniform regulation size is the best. A whole plant a foot or more high makes an attractive specimen on one of these sheets, or a single frond twice that length, if slender, can be arranged 22 American Fern Journal slanting with folded over tip to look very well. Several small specimens can be artistically mounted on one paper if desired. If possible, and especially if unlike, a sterile and a fertile frond of the same plant should be mounted together. If the leaves are similar in shape one of them may be arranged to show the upper side, the other the under with its spore cases. Or a very large frond may have a pinna or two turned over to show the reverse side. Very large mounted sheets displaying whole good sized ferns, with dried or painted grasses surrounding the lower part of the stems as if growing are sometimes seen in natural history museums where they are appropriate as well as interesting. The pane of glass can of course be purchased at any glazier's or hardware store and any kind with a smooth surface will answer. As I had a handsome pane of plate glass presented to me for this purpose I had a box made for it half an inch higher inside than was necessary for the glass, and with a sliding lid so that when not in use the cover can be put on without disturbing or touching the glue. In case of transporting it at any time, the space can be used for padding. Also as the box with glass is quite heavy it makes a satisfactory weight for freshly mounted specimens. When ready to begin the work of mounting with the large brush spread seme of the glue, properly thinned out, very evenly over the pane of glass, then carefully lay on it the frond to be mounted. With a soft clean brush or blunt stick gently press down the pinnules and stems to be certain that each part is coated evenly with glue on the under side, better too much than too little. Now lift the specimen with the pincers provided for the purpose very carefully by the stem or the rachis (mid- rib) and if too much glue has adhered lay it for a second Ferxs — Pacts axd Fancies about them — VIII 23 on a sheet of blotting paper to remove the surplus. Then lift it again and place in any desired position on the mounting sheet. If this appears to be a difficult matter and you are anxious to have it just right, lay it glued side up on a clean paper just the size of the mounting sheet and when arranged to your satisfaction lay the mounting sheet upon it and press gently all over it. Now remove with the damp cloth or sponge any superfluous glue or gum, fasten on the label already copied in ink, or at least leave it near the fern to which it belongs, place over all a sheet of blotting or oiled paper, then the weight and leave it there until quite dry. Several sheets may be placed under the weight at the same time. If, unluckily, one of these mounted specimens should prove altogether unsatisfactory and you desire to change it, though a delicate matter requiring great care, it can sometimes be successfully removed from the paper by applying steam to the glue through the under side of the paper by means of a wet cloth and a hot iron. As the dried leaves are exceedingly brittle, care must be taken even after they are mounted to keep them from m Jury. For a few specimens a portfolio may answer, but by far the most satisfactory thing in which to keep them is a box which comes ready made for the purpose exactly the right size with a drop front convenient for handling and capable of holding over a hundred sheets. Finally, when you have finished the task of mounting all that are desired for your collection, I would suggest that, as you have probably gathered many more fronds than you need, you select a few of the most perfect to keep for possible exchange, and throw all the rest away, except of course any very rare species. This will save future trouble, as a collection* of this kind seems to grow almost miraculously and unless kept down will soon overflow every available place. Anyone who has truly 24 American Fern Journal felt ' ' the lure of the fern ' ' will continue to collect and to exchange specimens with others at every available oppor- tunity, and his knowledge and interest in this fascinating branch of botany will constantly increase. There is a fascination too in looking over one 's collection from time to time bringing back to mind as it will many happy hours spent in the open, whether alone or with congenial companions. The larger specimens, cut up and folded over, may only be satisfactory or interesting as herbarium specimens, the smaller ones however, if artistic taste has been shown in arrangement and mounting, will to a great extent have retained their natural beauty and graceful- ness and thus each will indeed have become "a thing of beauty and a joy forever. ' ' Cambridge, Mass. Marsilea vesttta (Hook, and Grev.) in Western J axada.— According to the standard taxonomic works, the heterosporous fern Marsilea should not occur in panada east of the Rocky Mountains (except at one station m Alberta). The writer was therefore surprised to receive during the past year specimens of M. vestita rom three widely separated localities in Saskatchewan. ih« ^distribution of this species is given as "la. and outhwest wards" (Gray), or «B. C-Ia.-Ark.-Cali- fornia" (Kydberg). W 6 m e nf ati ° nS hl Saskat ^wan are located as fol- • U) Glen Kerr, in the southwestern part of the hi ITT' 7T ° f ^ dty ° f Moose Jaw ; (2) Dumferline, n central Saskatchewan, just west of Saskatoon, and ince Tl i' ther WGSt in the central P art ° f the prov- collected ther ^^^ *** ^'^ and s P ecimens were BOTRYCHIUM DISSECTUM 2 J.) Subsequent examination of Macoun's Catalogue of Canadian Plants showed that he had found the species growing in the Cypress Hills of Southern Alberta. It was also collected by him later at Spur Creek (Geological Survey No. 14,209). Also, Professor Jackson, of the Manitoba Agricultural College, states that the species was recently found at Froude in Southeastern Saskatche- wan near the Manitoba boundary. It therefore seems probable that this species is to be found right across Saskatchewan and Alberta. Apart from Azolla Caro- linian a which has been reported from Lake Ontario, it seems to be the only Canadian representative of the heterosporous ferns east of the Eocky Mountains, In all three localities in Saskatchewan, the plants form dense mats with creeping stems in low spots in ordinary wheat fields. In some cases the whole field including these low spots is cultivated and planted with cereals except in wet years, when the low spots may escape culti- vation, because the soil is too wet at planting time. Ap- proximately every third year, however, the fields are summerfallowed and then the whole area receives fre- quent cultivation during the summer. — W. P. Thompson, University of Saskatchewan. Botrychium Dissectum. — Gladewitz and Farwell, while botanizing near Disco, Michigan, found a consider- able colony of this species in a small copse not far from the town. It was somewhat early for the appearance of the fertile fronds. A good many had the sterile frond of the preceding year, now yellow and wilted, still at- tached. Observers for the most part seem to think that the dissected form, the nomenclatorial type, is a sterile mutant of the variety obliquum, supposed to be the genetic type. A close inspection of the copse showed that the dissected form was about ten times as frequent as the 26 American Fern Journal non-dissected form and well distributed through it. At this time there were less than one-half dozen plants of the dissected form with fertile fronds still green and not fully unrolled. Of the other kind, there was not a single fertile frond and the sterile fronds seemed to be too im- mature to produce them this year. As far as this colony is concerned, if there is any mutation going on, it would seem that the non-dissected form is the mutant.— 0. A. Farwell, Detroit, Mich. Another Station for Lycopodium Prothallia.— In connection with work in the Biology Department at Wheaton College, I can report another station for the occurrence of Lycopodium prothallia. In November, 1924, I found in two places in the vicinity of Wheaton College, Norton, Mass., prothallia of Lycopodium oo- scuram var. dendroideum. Both these spots had fairly open growth— the first of white pines, and the second of oaks. The prothallia were all in a wood loam which ex- tended down for about one and one-half inches and which contained hyphae. Beneath this loam was a yellow soil without hyphae. No prothallia were found in this soil, but all were in the loam at an average depth of about one inch. The prothallia are of the characteristic shape described by Spessard (Bot. Gaz. 74: 392-412). Pro- thallia were found of various sizes, both with and without sporelings.— Rosella S. Ames, Norton, Mass. Lygodium palmatum in Berkshire County, Mass. In the last number of the Journal it was stated that at a meeting of Fern Society members at Monterey, Berkshire Co., Mass., the party were informed of the existence in that town of a small colony of climbing fern. This fern was reported from the nearby town of Becket by Profes- sor Dewey in 1829; but no specimens from there are Two Ferns new to Utah 27 known to exist, and the species was excluded from Hoff- mann's recent Flora of Berkshire County. The Monterey station furnishes the only verifiable record from New England west of the Connecticut valley ; some detail in regard to it may, therefore, be worth setting down. According to our informant, it was discovered about fifty years ago by a woman familiar with the fern in the vicinity of Hartford. She so successfully impressed on the few who knew of its existence the rarity of the plant that, until now, they have kept their knowledge strictly to themselves. When discovered, and for years afterward, the colony covered about a hundred square feet ; owing, probably, to the growth of the forest over it, it is now reduced to a single surviving plant, and its extinction may be expected within a short time. A frag- ment has been taken as evidence, and will be deposited m the Gray Herbarium. The soil about Monterey is for the most part calcareous, but on the hummock where the fern grows gives a specific acidity of 30 on Dr. Wherry's scale. tford ■ AsPLENIUM VIRIDE AND CRYPTOGRAMMA STELLERI IN Utah. — I notice in the current number of the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, in the Index of American Bo- tanical Literature, an article by W. R. McColl entitled What unusual fern finds have you made? Please tell us- ' ' This prompts me to tell ! During the past summer I taught a class at the Alpine Summer School of Brigham Young University at Aspen Grove, Mt. Timpanogos, the subject being "The Algae, Bryophytes, and Pteridophytes of Timpanogos." The course was partly morphological, partly taxonomic. The students were to make an intensive survey of the region (which extends from about 6,800 ft. altitude to over 28 American Fern Journal 12,000) for the forms represented in the above title. During the course of this survey we collected two ferns new, I think, to the flora of Utah : Cryptograma Stelleri and Asplenium viride. — Specimens of both have been sent to the U. S. National Herbarium and of the Asplenium to the New York Botanical Garden. Our collection of Cryptograma Stelleri was meager, but I hope to get more of it next year. — A. O. Garrett, Salt Lake City, Utah. One "Way to Grow Ferns — Certain of the smaller Aspleniums and the walking fern will grow on sour soil. I have found it interesting to grow these ferns in the fol- lowing way. A mixture of sand and wood loam should be heated in order to kill seeds and spores. This soil should then be placed to the depth of about one inch in fish globes. Fresh spores of Asplenium platy neuron, A. pin- natifidum, A. Trichomanes and Camptosorus rliizophyllus can be sown on the moistened soil. Do not cover the spores. On the top of each globe put a piece of glass to prevent evaporation. The spores will begin to sprout in from two to four weeks and will develope prothallia in about six or eight weeks. I find that I have better success if I wait several years or until the sporophytes are nearly mature before transplanting them to other fish globes. They can be transplanted then without wilting. The species that never grow to any great size can be put into fish globes, and ebony spleenworts can be put into tall, wide-mouthed bottles. There is little or no trouble involved in all this. The globes do not have to be watered oftener than once in ten weeks, and the only care to be observed is that the globes must not be put in sunshine but kept in light as nearly like that in which the fern grows normally as is possible. The Smooth Woodsia in New York 29 I have one pinnatifid spleemvort that was put into a fish globe about six years ago. It has dropped spores and young sporophytes have developed in the globe. At present it has a fresh leaf. The second lobe from the stipe on the left hand side as one looks down from above is very large. It is pointed and is almost as large as the rest of the leaf. I have seen references to such leaves of Asplenium pinnatifidum in the litera- ture. — Blanche McAvoy, Cincinnati y Ohio. The Smooth Woodsia in New York. — There has ap- parently been considerable uncertainty as to the exact status of the Smooth Woodsia (IVoodsia glabella R. Br.) in New York State. Dr. House, in his "Annotated List of the Ferns and Flowering Plants of New York State," 1924, includes this fern as known only from Little Falls, New York, George Vasey, July, 1847, in Sartwell her- barium, Hamilton College. He states that the specimens in the Sartwell herbarium have recently been reexamined and are this species without doubt, but adds that there is no record of its having been collected in this State since, although more than one collector has carefully examined the Little Falls region. The specimens by Peek from Lake Avalanche, he says, prove to be W. alpina. The latest edition of Gray's Manual in- cludes New York in the range of the species, but with- out comment. Clute, "Our Ferns in their Haunts," gives the range as from Northern New York, and Waters in ''Ferns" says that it has about the same geographical range in New York as W. alpina, adding that it lives on moist rocks or even where the spray of water falls reaches it. Taylor in his "Flora of the Vicinity of New York" does not include the Smooth Woodsia. However, he, as well as Dr. House, appear to have over- looked the record for this plant in Gilbert's "The Fern 30 American Fern Journal Flora of New York," published in The Fern Bulletin, Octob Woodsia is reported from Haines' Falls on the authority of Pro- fessor Peck. In the latter part of August, 1921, while collecting in Greene County, New York, near Haines' Falls, I ex- plored a deep ravine where sheer dripping cliffs with the talus extending almost to the bank of the stream formed an agreeable prospect. Here I found on the rocks the slender cliff brake (Cryptogramma Stelleri (S. G. Gmel.) Prantl) not reported by Taylor from New York in his Flora, although the locality is within his area, and not reported by Dr. House from this locality. This location . of the slender cliff brake was, however, previously known, as there is mention of it in the Preface, page 8, to Dr. Kelly 's ' ' Some American Medical Botanists, ' ' and I am advised that there is a specimen from Haines' Falls col- lected by Mrs. Mary L. Stevens, June, 1895, in the Gray Herbarium at Cambridge. Growing near the slender cliff brake Mere very bleached specimens of the long beech fern (Thelypteris Phegopteris (L.) Slosson) and, almost concealed in the fissures, a small fern in some abundance at this particular spot, which I at first supposed might be Asplenium viride Huds. A glance at the text books and manuals, however, soon assured me that I had found the Smooth Woodsia, and my identification was subse- quently confirmed by Mr. C. A. Weatherby, to whom I sent a specimen. Last summer, August, 1925, I again visited this sta- tion, but although I made a careful examination lower down the gorge, I was able to find specimens only at the original location found by me in 1921. I did, how- ever, find additional patches of the slender cliff brake -cattered through the ravine. American Fern Society 31 Samples of the rock on which the Smooth Woodsia grows have been sent by me to the Department of Geology and Mineralogy at Columbia University and have been determined as shale, having a percentage of approximately two and a half per cent of lime (CaO) which, I am advised by Professor Colony, is quite normal as to lime percentage for shales. The rocks on which the cliff brake grow contain approximately the same amount of lime. The gorge, although difficult of access, is visited by a good many persons during the summer months. Should * the locality be found by others, I urge that the Woodsia be collected sparingly as the plants are apparently con- fined to a very limited area at this station. — Frederick Wm. KobrfL Np,w York ditu. American Fern Society The botanical library of the Peabody Museum of Salem, Mass., contains volumes 14 to 18 inclusive of the Fern Bulletin. Any member of the Fern Society willing to contribute toward completing the files of this magazine will help a worthy cause by sending any of the missing volumes to the Museum, in care of Albert P. Morse, Curator of Natural History, Mho has recently joined the Society. New members: Barnes, E. H., Taxation Dept., G. P. O. Building, Perth, West- ern Australia. Brooks,' Maurice G., French Creek, W. Va. Brown, Herbert H., 158 Glebeholme Blvd., Toronto, Canada. Finegan, Mrs. Thomas E., 613 North Front St., Harrisburg, Pa. Huber, Frank F., Farmers' National Bank, Pennsburg, Pa. 32 American Fern Journal MacCaskill, Allan, Jr., Coleraine, Victoria, Australia. Morse, Prof. Albert P., Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass. Paull, Miss Agnes M., Brookdale Farm, Holcomb, N. Y. Stebbins, G. Ledvard, Jr., 38 Claverly Hall, Cambridge, Mass. Change of address: Hall, Mrs. Carlotta C, 1633 La Loma Ave., Berkeley, Cal. Kobbe, Frederick Wm., 1155 Park Ave., New York City. McColl, W. R., 921 Fourth Ave. East, Owen Sound, Ont. Xoyes, Miss Elmira E., 912 Brandon Ave., Norfolk, Ya. The date of Mrs. Mary A. Noble's birth was Aug. 31, 1847, not Aug. 13, as stated, through a typographical error, in the last num- ber of the Journal. Mr. George L. Fisher, 713 Leeland Ave., Houston, Texas, will collect ferns and other herbarium material in southern Mexico, leaving in July, 1926. Fern Society members wishing to make this trip will please ccmmuni- cate with him. All plant zones will be visited, from alpine snows (alt. 14,000 ft.) to the tropics (alt. 0). The officers' reports for 1925 had not been received at the time of going to press. They will no doubt be on hand for the next number. THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB MEMBERSHIP Including Bulletin, Memoirs, and Torreya, $5.00 a year PUBLICATIONS Bulletin. Monthly, established 1870. Price, $4.00 a year; single numbers 40 cents. Of former volumes, only 24-47 can be supplied separately. Manuscripts intended for publication in the Bulletin should be addressed to Tracy E. Hazen, Editor, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York City. Torreya. Bi-monthly, established 1901. Price, $1.00 a year. Manuscripts intended for publication in Torreya should be addressed to George T. Hastings, Editor, Bobbins Place, Yonkers, N. Y. Memoirs. Occasional, established 1889. Price, $3.00 a volume. Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteridophyta within 100 miles of New York City, 1888. Price, $1.00. Subscriptions and other business communications should ba addressed to the Treasurer, Dr. B. C. Benedict, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y. FOR ALL PLANT STUDENTS America popular Botany in technical with the present century and is still out a single duplication. 000 botanical articles with w the Founder of the American Fern Society. Quarterly, 48 pages, $1.50 Sample copy 25 cents The American Botanist, JoHet, 111. (We offer vols. 8-20. Fern Bulletin, for $8 postpaid.) The Science Press Printing Company Printers of Scientific and Educational Journals, Monographs A. E. URBAN, and B00kS Gen. Manager Information furnished, and detailed estimates submitted Lime and Green Sts.. Lancaster, Penna. THE BRYOLOGIST PUBUSHED BY THE SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY 3 only magazine in English wholly devoted to Mosses, patics, and Lichens. Bimonthly ; illustrated ; for the inner as well as for the professional Yearly snbscrip- United States, $1 Twenty tional gives membership in the SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY, with free services of Curators for beginners. ADDRESS A. TENNYSON BEALS i * 2929 Broadway NEW YORK CITY * ■ _ ■ * • - * m * * 1 _ •* HUGKAl ebhpm&t This Free Catalog Lists Field and Herbarium Equipment Designed by Botanists Collecting Cases Fern Trowels Plant Presses Hand Lenses Field Picks Felt Driers Genus Covers WAVBUIY MAS5.U5A Mounting Papers Write to-day for Catalog F 91 BAT iW m m « V tULIlT COMPANY MASS. , U. S. A - ■ Vol. 16. April- June, 1926 No. 2 Ammratt Jfartt Journal * A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO FERNS Published fcy tne AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY & EDITORS R. C. BENEDICT E. J. WINSLOW C. A. WEATHERBY A* CONTENTS Saving the HartVtongue H. D. House, H. E. Ransier, R. C. Benedict 33 Equisetum variegatum nelsoni a good Species J. H. SCHAFFNER 45 Some Notes on the new Hybrid Aspleniums-E. W. Graves 48 A Few More Fern Finds L. A. Wheeler 50 Recent Fern Literature 54 Fern Collecting in Mexico G. L. Fisher 67 New Plant Conservation Laws R. C. Benedict 59 Forked and crested Forms of Ferns C. A. Weatherby 60 American Fern Society 60 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION. $1.25 ; FQRgjGN, $1.35 - . AUBURNDALE, jtia^. vtaoi Entered as second class matter at the AnbnradalfcWesch «# **** oston, Mass., Post Office, nnder the Act of March 3, 1999. Acceptance special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, authorized _■■■ - . ®ij? Am?rtran 3R>rtt &xttwt$ (Sntmrttfiar 1920 officers for the year William R. Maxon, Washington, D. C. - - . - ' President Mrs. Carlotta C. Hall, Berkeley, Calif. - - Vice-president Rev. C. S. Lewis, 835 Edgewood Ave., Trenton, N. J. Secretary J. Q. Underwood, Hartland, Vt. .... Treasurer OFFICIAL ORGAN Ammratt 3tern Ummral EDITORS Ralph C. Benedict - - 322 East 19th St., Brooklyn, N. Y. E. J. Winslow Auburndale, Mass. 0. A. Weatherby East Hartford, Conn. An illustrated quarterly devoted to the general study of ferns. Subscription, $1.25 per year, foreign, 10 cents extra; sent free 1° members of the AMERICAN FERN" SOCIETY (annual dues, $1.50; life membership, $25.00). Extracted reprints, if ordered in advance, will be furnished authors at cost. They should be ordered when proof is returned. Volume I, six numbers, $2.00 ; other volumes $1.25 each. Single back numbers 35 cents each. Volume I, number 1 cannot be sup- plied except with complete volume. Ten per cent, discount on orders of six volumes or more. oo rt B i atter for Publication should be addressed to R. C. Benedict, 322 East 19th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Subscriptions, orders for back numbers, and other business communications should be addressed to E. J. Winslow, Auburn- dale, Mass. CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM L. S. Hopkins - . Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Mo. ^ r «golar loan department is maintained in connection with the Society herbarium. Members may borrow specimens from it *rL an ^ ^ me > *^ e borcower paying all postal or express charges. The pages of the Journal are also open to members who wish to arrange exchanges ; a membership list is published to further assist those interested in obtaining specimens from different localities. Ammratt ifarn Journal Vol.16 APRIL-JUNE No. 2 Saving the Hart's-tongue The vicinity of Jamesville, Onondaga County, New York, is classic ground to both the geologist and to the botanist. Across the outcropping Onondaga limestone on both sides and above the present level of the valley of the Butternut Creek and almost at right angles to the present north and south placement of the valley are the famous post-glacial gorges caused by the eastward flow of the outlet of the post-glacial lake. In 1807, Pursh dis- covered the Scolopendrium fern near Geddes, southwest of the city of Syracuse. In 1830, William Cooper found the fern at Chittenango Falls. Meanwhile the two locali- ties where the fern was most abundant remained un- known until found by Lewis Foote in 1866 near James- ville, and in the same year by J. A. Paine at Little Lakes (Green pond and White or Blue lake) about a mile e;ist of Jamesville. The two small lakes, Green lake (2 miles west of Jamesville) and Green pond (1 mile east of Jamesville] occupy the plunge basins of the extinct post-glacial livers, the beds and gorges of which form such a con- spicuous element of the local geology. It is probable that Rafinesque visited one of these small lakes in 1826 Life of Travels, page 82) when in company with Katon he speaks of visiting several localities in central and western New York, "and a small singular nameless lake, an ancient volcanic crater, without outlet." He states [Volume lt>, No. 1, of the Journal, pa-, s 1-32, plates I an«l 2, was issued March 11, 1926.] 33 34 American Fern Journal that he had full time to collect and carry numerous spec- imens, but unfortunately lost most of them afterwards. It was indeed "unfortunate" if he did visit one of these lakes, as seems probable, that he should have associated stratified limestone formations with volcanic phenomena, curiously so in view of his familiarity with the volcano of Etna. Probably neither botanist nor geologist has ever vis- ited this remarkable locality without observing with keen interest the evidences of the rugged forces of nature which have so deeply impressed their power upon the visible landscape. Especially does the botanist, as he ex- plores the rock strewn pot-holes and gorges, feel that he has been transplanted suddenly to something akin to a different world. It is not strange, therefore, that the botanical literature of this section of the state contains many references to the vegetation and especially to the . ferns of these cool, densely shaded, mossy rock strewn gashes in the earth's crust. Like many another student of botany and geology at the nearby University in Syra- cuse, I quickly discovered this interesting locality and never tired of exploring its many almost inaccessible re- cesses. For our most pnmnlpfp IrrmwlpHoPA rpaarrHncr the fern M wood, at one time professor of biology at Syracuse Uni- versity (Fern Bulletin 5: 53-54. 1897), but we should not overlook the many other contributions to the knowl- edge of the flora of these lakes and their vicinity made H Miss Petry A few years ago the region around Green lake west of Jamesville was acquired by the New York State Museum, as part of its program in the preservation of notable geo- Saving the Hart 's-toxgue 35 logical formations. This tract is now known as the Clark reservation. It is evident that the public at large, cer- tainly many of those who frequent the park for recre- ational purposes, have little conception of the value and importance of the conservation and preservation of those elements of wild life, both plant and animal, which form such an important element in the beauty of the great out-of-doors, for while hunting is fairly easy to prevent upon the reservation, the protection of the plants is more difficult and there has been considerable vandalism at the expense of some of the Scolopendrium ferns. It is not, however, a hopeless cause and there is reason to be- lieve that with adequate protection this reservation may become the safe abiding place of the many rare plants which are native to the region. Botanists in general and fern students especially were learn - east of Jamesville, including Green pond, AVhite lake, and the long rough and irregular escarpment extending nearly to Manlius, had passed into the hands of the Sol- vay Process Company, whose intention it was to convert this great deposit of limestone into commercial products. The commercial demands for easily available deposits such as this are undeniable, but it must remain as a per- petual blot upon the name of a great corporation with almost unlimited resources, that after learning of the scientific value attached to Green pond, they could not have fenced off a few score of acres surrounding it and left it untouched as a gracious gesture and monument for the future. During 1924 and 1925 through the interest of many fern students a movement was finally crystallized by Dr. John B. Todd, of Syracuse, for the transplanting of the Hart 's-tongue fern from the path of the quarrying operations to safer quarters in the Clark reservation and 36 American Fern Journal elsewhere. This had the sanction of the Vice-President of the Solvay Company, which is about all the interest shown by them in the matter. It is not the purpose of this account to dwell in detail upon the transplanting operations. It is sufficient to say that Dr. Todd, with the assistance of Miss Nettie M. Sadler, teacher of biology in the Nottingham High School, of Syracuse, and Miss Mary E. Todd, removed and planted elsewhere a total of nearly 700 plants of the Hart 's-tongue fern. Most of these plants are doing well in their new homes, some of them remarkably so. A few have suffered from heavy rains and other unforeseen con- ditions. During the spring of 1924, Miss Mabel R. Hunter, of the department of botany of Syracuse Uni- versity, assisted by a few students and other faculty members interested in saving the ferns removed about tonarue elsewhere. reservati vork was the State Museum. A recent inspection by Dr. Todd indicates that considering the difficulties of getting the plants out and transplanting them in new locations the percentage of survivals is truly remarkable. Only those who have attempted to explore the haunts of the Hart 's- tongue fern can appreciate what strenuous difficulties and hard work has been involved in this project. Fern students above all owe to these two groups of individuals headed by Dr. Todd and Miss Hunter a debt of grati- tude for which there is no visible remuneration. Our sincere appreciation and their knowledge that without thought of reward they have laboriously accomplished something really worth while toward the preservation of one of our rarest species of plants will constitute their chief compensation. Saving the Hart 's-tongue 37 It is appropriate to mention here, also, Mr. H. E. Ran- sier ? s recent offer to send to members of the Fern So- ciety living plants of the Hart's-tongue fern. These plants, as will be noted in Mr. Ransier 's own account, were for the most part "left overs" from the work of transplanting carried on by Miss Hunter and Dr. Todd and were in immediate danger of destruction. With proper care many of the plants thus distributed by Mr. Ransier should survive. This reminds me of the fact that a recent assistant in my office "discovered" the HartVtongue in the woods west of Saugerties, Ulster County, about three years ago. I was not willing to be- lieve them native and inquiry revealed the fact that they had been planted there several years ago by Miss Char- lotte Borgardus. There are doubtless scores of places where the fern will survive if carefully planted, and a careful record should be kept of the plants distributed by Mr. Ransier and their survival where planted out in natural surroundings. What Mr. Ransier's modesty does not permit him to add is that the money received for these plants, some $30.00, has been turned in to the Fern Society for use in illustrating the Journal. — Homer D. House, Albany, N. Y. Richer than millionaires! happier than Kings! envied by multitudes! may be said of hobnobbers with Hart's- tongues. What joys, suprises, and pleasures come with twenty-five years' close association with them. How implicitly did we believe the old botany that said they grew only at Chittenango Falls, N. Y. How we scorned the young Miss, who said they grew elsewhere, when she saw a potted one in the store window labelled, Chittenango only What thrills, when, with a young companion we camped out three nights under a double poncho tent in the James ville woods right beside the Hart 's-tongue col- i\MKKI(\AN PEBN JoT'KNAL Volume 16, Plate 3 (Photograph by H. E. Rangier) The Hart's Tongue as it was at Jamesvil.ee Saving the Hart 's-tongue 39 i onies. erwar well-furnished tent on the identical spot, even if cattle did visit the place in our absence, eating all the vege- tables and swallowing whole a large chunk of salt pork, bringing visions of an animal choking to death, until the farmer to whom I reported the matter laughed heartily and said it was a good remedy for loss of cud! How fearful were we once, when a strange noise approached our camp until it became an awesome roar — nothing but heavy rain upon the forest foliage, without a breath of wind, approaching unannounced in any customary man- ner. No such thunder and lightning have I ever expe- wi about a year after we were married. The storm su: back and forth with seeming cloud-bursts, nearly the whole night long, but our tent with ample and water- proofed fly kept out every drop even if we were robbed of our sleep ! We have even found it difficult to get to. sleep some- times from the incessant calls of myriads of katydids all around our tent, with occasionally one inside. The vol- ume of their cries on an otherwise calm and peaceful night is beyond belief. Imagine, if you can, the shock that came to me a year or so ago, on visiting the ravine I considered the site of the choicest of Hart 's-tongues, to find every tree and shrub had been cut down and a great bank of newly de- posited quarrying refuse dumped right over and com- pletely burying all ! Not a fern left! (I have since learned that Dr. Todd, of Syracuse, was aware of the im- pending danger in time to transplant many hundreds of these ferns to state reservation lands.) A visit to the old camp site one-eighth mile away showed it not yet covered by rock though nearly so. Road beds had been graded along the top of the south 40 American Fern Journal bank around the little lake and railroad spurs had al- ready been established and used. Soon, inevitably, the colonies of Hart 's-tongues in the talus below would be obliterated by train loads of refuse from the quarrying operations on a grand scale close at hand. So when it was suggested to aid in saving these ferns by passing them on to others, in spite of old ties and associations, we were persuaded to remove the very ferns we had so long tried to protect. On a late fall day, of soft and yellowed light, ever- greens contrasting with brilliant autumn leaves; with hisses of escaping steam; shrill engine whistlings from the quarrying operations ; the baying of hounds and oc- casional hunter's gun shot echoing back and forth, and voices of pleasure seekers far below, we began the work of rescuing the ferns. With trowels, old newspapers, and plenty of rubber bands, the plants are easily lifted, wrapped, and fastened. Not so easily are they carried up the steep slope over loose rocks covered with mosses, or damp freshly fallen leaves, to the crest above. The monotony of the work is varied by inspecting a tiny cavern quite near the top and endeavoring to photo- graph the great number of Hart 's-tongues which thickly dot the surface of fissures for six or eight feet back from the opening, which is about six by fifteen inches. A pro- longed time exposure with small diaphragm was neces- sary but when the exposure had been completed, the lens was found completely steamed over by a moist, out-flow- ing current of air. More exposures, with kodak farther back to escape this damp drift, proved most unsatis- factory. Resuming collecting, we worked till night approached and the last load to the auto found us picking our dan- gerous path through the darkness, and speeding home- ward, the lights of Fayetteville and Manlius, both visible Saving the Hart's-tongue 41 at the same time, and an orange, Hallow-e'en-like moon rising in the east, made a sight worth seeing. So-called "snake caps" were very noticeable on this occasion and having a desire to establish a few small ferns and mosses indoors in an old aquarium (12xl2x 20 inches, covered with plate glass to retain moisture), I took a number of the scarlet cups for contrast with the greens, and they were a success, novel, brilliant, and at- tractive; a few "squaw berries" and "wintergreens" both in full fruit gave a further variety. The snake caps faded about Christmas and so New Year's Day, with a foot of snow on the ground, found us at the Hart's- tongue station, with thermometer, kodak and an old auto license plate for snow scraper. The thermometer showed a temperature of 49 degrees ern arm from inner recesses, for though facing the north, the snow only remained in patches where it rested on logs, rocks and tufts of grass or moss. This is the immediate neighborhood some one has called the "most exposed station of the Hart's-tongue"— an apt designation. Here the snake's cap fungi were also exposed and enough were procured to renew my inside garden. The offer in the Fern Journal brought letters, special delivery, and telegrams at once. They came from all. classes of individuals; from gardeners, park officers, teachers and colleges. Repeat orders also came later, and I wish to express my appreciation of the character of these correspondents ; I know of no finer lot of people than those composing our Fern Society. Fairness, ap- preciation, co-operation, gratitude and sympathy stood out pre-eminently as on earlier occasions, in pleasant contrast with one's daily business experiences. Orders came from thirty-five individuals in the follow- American Fern Journal Volume 16, Plate 4 (Photograph from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden) Hope fob tuk Future; young H art 's-Tongue, about 8 Months oi.n, i\ an 8-inch Pan. Saving the Hart's-tongie 43 ing states: New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Con- necticut, Ohio, Wisconsin, Washington, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, California, Nebraska, and Missouri. About $10.00 was spent for postage. One pleasant feature of this distribution was the large number acknowledging receipt of ferns in good condition, commenting on man- ner of packing and expressing appreciation. About one- third of this number mentioned have fern gardens. Although not formally a member, the Society owes Mrs. Ransier more than a little credit in this distribu- tion, for she can make "Lizzie" "gid-ap" and respond to her "whoa" while "Lizzie" pays no attention to me. Besides, she enjoyed every trip and shared in all the work and was ready for more. Less fortunate ones write — "My wife don't enjoy outing trips with me! H. E. Ransier, Manlius, N. Y. The purpose of this note is to supplement my article published in the Fern Journal last year (vol. 15, p. 124), and with special reference to the young plants of Hart s-tongue being raised at the Brooklyn Botanic Gar- den for widespread distribution and naturalization. A number of inquiries have come in as a result of the Pern Journal note and another which appeared in sev- eral newspapers. The young sporelings are developing well. Eventually a large number will be available. Reference to Dr. House's paper in this same number and to Miss Mabel Hunter's article in the Fern Journal during 1924 (vol. 14, p. 102) and one in the American Journal of Botany, 9: 28-36, show that transplantation and naturalization of wild plants has succeeded a number of times. I do not know of any reference to any attempt to establish the Hart 's-tonsue bv the use of greenhouse grown plants. •±4 American Fern Journal However, since these Botanic Garden sporelings have been raised from spores obtained from central New York sources, it is to be hoped that the progeny will be able to adapt themselves to outdoor conditions and to endure winter cold. It will be important to give them, as nearly as possible, what have appeared always to be the best environmental conditions here in the United States. These require- ments include limestone substratum, soft, loose, well- drained humus soil, broad-leaf shade trees, such as but- ternut and basswood, often associated with an herba- ceous undergrowth of jewel-weed, herb Robert, et al. An east to north exposure with cliff protection at the back is a further concomitant in the Jamesville district. In general, the various localities seem such as to give protection against too extreme evaporation. Reference to plate 3, or to the article "Game laws for ferns and wild flowers" Am. Fern Journ. 12: 33-45, 1922) will show plants in typical positions. According to the present rate of development, the first distribution of plants can be made by June. Some of the plants will then have leaves two to three inches in length. Application should be made to me at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The question as to the cost of distribu- tion can be settled in connection with each shipment. It will include merely the expense of containers, packing, and postage. — R. C. Benedict, Brooklyn Botanic Gar- den, Brooklyn, N. Y. EqI'LSETUM VAR1EGATUM NELSON I 45 Equisetum variegatum nelsoni a Good Species i John H. Schaffner A. A. Eaton described Equisetum variegatum nelsoni as a new variety in 1904 (Fern Bull. 12: 41), namh among its most important characters, annual habit, rounded ridges with cross-bands of silex, and teeth with filiform deciduous points. He stated that it was "almost exactly between Jesupi and laevigatum with which it long 1 N. L. T. Nelson/' He further says that "It is a good sub- species and were it not for the fact that the group is so variable would be entitled to specific rank." Farwell raised it to specific rank in 1916 under the name Hippo- ckaete nelsoni (Mem. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 6: 461-472). He regarded it as intermediate between Hippoehaete laevi- gata (A. Br.) Farw. (Equisetum kansanum Schaffn.) and Hippoehaete hyemalis jesupi (A. A. Eat.) Farw. (Equisetum variegatum jesupi A. A. Eat.). So far as the writer is aware no one else has treated it as a species in the meantime. Having become acquainted with the plant through her- barium specimens, the writer was inclined to agree with Farwell as to its specific rank but until the past season no opportunity presented itself for studying it in the field. Having seen good material collected at Douglas Lake, Mich., by Prof. Frank T. McFarland of the Uni- versity of Kentucky, it was determined to examine the plant in its native habitat. Accordingly, several days were spent in the early part of July at the Biological station of the University of Mich., located on the shore of Doughis Lake, in Cheboygan County, about 13 miles 1 I'.'q.ers from the Department of Bot:iny, The Ohio Btote Uni- versity. No. 168. 46 American Fern Journal S. W. of Cheboygan. Through the kindness of'Drs. John H. Ehlers and C4eorge E. Nichols the writer found abun- dant material for study and concluded that it was well entitled to rank as a species in comparison with other species of Equisetum. It grew in abundance in a grassy moist swamp near the lake and on the sandy beach. It was much taller in the moist swamp than on the beach, but in a small patch of richer soil on the beach it was nearly as large as in the swamp. Eaton's description is quite accurate but it does not appear to have absolutely annual aerial stems. In some cases at least the bases ap- pear to survive the winter, although the tops die down. No Equisetum variegatum was found in these localities. * The species may be characterized as follows : Equisetum nelsoni (A. A. Eat.) comb, now E. variegatum var. nelsoni A. A. Eat. Fern Bull. 12: 41. 1904. Hippochaete nelsoni (A. A. Eat.) Farw. Mem. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 6 : 472. 1916. Aerial shoots annual but the bases sometimes sur- viving until the second season; stems 6-20 in. (1.5-5 dm.) long, inclined to be flexible, usually unbranched; central cavity small; ridges of the internodes 5-12, rounded, with cross bands of silex, not with a central groove nor biangulate, except rarely in one or more in- ternodes of minute *stems and then only in a slight de- gree ; leaf sheaths mostly distinctly campanulate or am- pliated, typically green with a narrow black limb, often becoming dark or black with age, 5-12-toothed, the teeth persistent but their bristle tips more or less de- ciduous; teeth with a black or brown center and a broad white or hyaline margin; teeth and the upper part of the sheath segments quadricarinate, with a distinct cen- tral groove above but the lower part of the segment rounded; cones small, distinctly apiculate. Equisetum variegatum nelsoni 47 This species can be readily distinguished from E. variegatum Schleich. as follows: E. nelsoni — Ridges of the internodes rounded, with cross bands of silex ; sheath segments grooved only at the upper end, the base rounded ; aerial shoots annual or at most only the bases surviving the winter, inclined to be slender and flexible. E. variegatum — Ridges biangulate, with a broad cen- tral groove and a double row of tubercles; sheath seg- ments grooved through the base-, the groove continuous with the groove of the internodal ridge; aerial shoots perennial, mostly rigidly erect. Equisetum nelsoni, E. variegatum and E. scirpoides constitute a distinct and the most extreme section of the J^QUiseta Hiberna. Although E. nelsoni is practically annual and has thus advanced beyond the rest of the spe- cies in this respect nearly to the level of the Equiseta Ambigua and the higher horsetails yet in other respects it must be regarded as the most primitive of the three. Its superficial resemblance in certain characters to E. kansanum is merely a case of parallelism and it can al- ways be distinguished at a glance by its cones. Its char- acteristic quadricarinate teeth will readily distinguish it from small vegetative shoots of either, E. kansanum or E. laevigatum, both of which have bi- or tri-earinate sheath segments, or are often nearly smooth. E. nelsoni may be regarded as derived from a more primitive ancestor side by side with E. laevigatum and E. kansanum and advancing along with the latter to the anual condition, but otherwise retaining its group char- acteristies. E. varigatnm has advanced farther in re- duction of the aerial shoot and central cavity and has developed the centrally grooved leaf segments and bi- angulate internodal ridges in somewhat the same way as E. hicmale has in comparison with E. praealtum. 48 American Ferx Journal E. scirpoides shows the most extreme reduction and specialization of the aerial shoot in harmony with boreal conditions. The solid stem and curly, hair-like habit must be regarded as characters of secondary origin. In the development of the grooved internodal ridge, it has advanced to the extreme condition so that there are two distinct ridges for each of the three teeth and sheath segments. Columbus, Ohio Some Notes on the New Hybrid Aspleniums E. W. Graves In reading the account of the Appalachian Asple- niums bv Di ry Journal, I was very much interested in the hybrid As- plenium trudelli, for I have had in my herbarium for a number of years nine plants which I collected on sand- stone cliffs near Long Island, Alabama, which agree with the description of that hybrid. In November, 1917, while searching a cliff for As pie- Ifid I thought was a peculiar form of pinnatifidum. The plants were growing on the northwest side of an almost inaccessible part of the cliff. I could not reach them from below, but by clinging to the rough sides I man- aged to climb down from above. I procured several bunches, one plant especially large, with fronds ten inches long and two and a half broad. In examining the cliff I found that only two Aspleniums besides this pe- culiar form inhabited it. I took the specimens home and after examining them decided they were not pin- natifidum, for I had found hundreds of plants of that fern and never before had I seen one like these. Some The New Hybrid Asplenjums 49 of them looked more like Asplenium montanum than A. pinnatifidum I packed several plants and sent them to Dr. Maxon, asking what he thought of them. He replied that they appeared to be a variant form of pinnatifidum. I let the matter rest at that, but I was not satisfied to call them pinnatifidum. The plants I sent to Dr. Maxon I suppose were deposited in the National Herbarium, but Dr. Wherry makes no mention of them in listing localities where A. trudelli had previously been collected. I also sent a plant or two to the Society Herbarium, and have sent some to different members of the Society. Since reading Dr. Wherry's description I have care- fully studied my herbarium specimens and I feel that he is correct in calling this form a cross between A. pinnati- fidum and A. montanum, as those two were the only ferns growing in the immediate vicinity. There were more plants of the hybrid than of the supposed parents growing at this place. Many were inaccessible and per- haps by this time, if weather conditions have been en- couraging, may have developed into large plants. The illustration drawn by Mrs. Weatherby which accom- panies this paper will show how some of my plants look. Another fern described by Dr. Wherry in his paper was Asplenium stotleri, which he seemed to think was a pinnatifid I found one or two plants which answer very nearly to his description. They were the first plants I sent to Dr. Maxon, which he finally decided were the hybrid A. gravesii. These first plants I found had more slender pinnae than others I collected later. Some of the smaller fronds on the same plant showed rounded or triangular pinnae below. As A. trudelli varies in this respect, I am inclined to believe that A. gravesii also varies. In his description of A. stotleri Dr. Wherry says that margins 50 American Fern Journal of the pinnules are rounded instead of sharply toothed ; that is often characteristic in A. gravesii. Take a look at Dr. Wherry's illustrations on page 46, vol. 15 of the Journal. Notice the marked difference be- tween no. 4 and no. 5 ; yet there is just that much change in fronds of A. trudelli even on the same plant. No. 5 shows the sharp-edged pinnae of A. montanum. If you will look at no. 1 of my illustrations you will notice one frond in the middle which looks like no. 4 in Dr. Wherry 's chart, while the larger fronds look like no. 5. Now notice nos. 8 and 12 of his chart; the dark stipe is nearly the same, the rounded edges and long pinnae of no. 12 resemble no. 10 somewhat. Look again at my chart. No. 3 has long drawn out pinnae ; while not quite so narrow as Dr. Wherry's no. 12, yet no. 3 and no. 4 of my chart grew on the same plant, which was deter- mined as A. gravesii by Dr. Maxon. I cannot agree with Dr. Wherry in calling no. 12 a new hybrid until we get more definite proof, but I do agree with him in saying that A. trudelli is a hybrid be- tween Asplenium pinnatifidum and Asplenhim mon- tanum. I wish to thank Mrs. Weatherby for her kindness in preparing the accompanying illustration. Bentonsport, Iowa A Few More Fern Finds Leston A. Wheeler In the October-December, 1924, and the July-Septem- ber, 1925, number of the American Fern Journal the articles by W. R. McColl and Henry Mouslev have quite aroused my interest as I, too, have always been attracted by the unusual in plant life. Whether we regard them American Fern Journal Volume 16, Plate 5 52 American Ferx Journal, fern as mere freaks, or as reversions to past types, or yet as the progenitors of possible new forms, these variations are always interesting. In spite of all my efforts I never saw a crested fern until the autumn of 1923 when a neighbor who was pick- ing ferns for market gave me a number of fronds of the Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) which were beautifully crested. These finds seem to have broken the ice, for later in the same season I found, in the town of Castleton, a beautiful forked frond of the marginal (Aspidium marginale) . In 1924, while show- ing some friends the view from a nearby elevation, I found, beside the road, three fronds of the pasture brake (Dicksonia punctilobula) . One of these had three well developed points. During the past season (1925) I found others in North West Bethel, Maine. I have a colony of this fern which has peculiar irregular fronds which look as though eaten by insects. All around are great numbers of colonies bearing perfectly normal fronds. By the way, I would like to ask our respected editors if crested and forked fronds are common to all species of ferns. Are there any immunes? I have several sheets of the lace fern (Aspidium spinu- losum, var. intermedium) with beautifully crisped and curled fronds. Mr. McColl has put me all in the, shade (where a fern lover is usually to be found) with his 250 fronds of the maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium Trichomanes) i. My best find was a plant from roadside ledges in the town of Dummerston with over 70 fronds. Extremes in size are always interesting. I have the common polypody (Poly podium wig are) with fruiting fronds only 10 cm. high, and six entire plants of my sheet of Trichomanes Pctersii from the herbarium of E. A Few More Fern Finds 5: J W. Graves, Alabama, can be covered with a silver quar- ter, while plants of Hymenophylhon tunbridgense from Dr. Selim Birger are not much larger. On the other hand I have a plant of Botrychium virginianum 97% cm. high by 35 cm. broad, as mounted, thus exceeding that of Mr. Mousley in one dimension and falling short in the other. My ostrich fern (Onoclea Strutliiopteris) is 173 cm. in length, while my royal fern {Osmunda re- galis) is 140 by 61 cm. These large specimens have taken from three to five sheets of herbarium paper each in order properly to display their beauty. The frond has to be cut and carefully mounted so that each piece may match as nearly as possible the other pieces when laid in order. The royal fern here mentioned was growing near the outlet of Grout Pond in the town of Stratton at an elevation of 2,225 feet and was one of many which were truly regal in their tropical beauty. One need not go to the tropics to find beautiful ferns. My best Ophioglossum vulgatum, of which I have many, has two fronds 25 cm. in length. The specimen gigantea of my collection is a fern ally, Eqaisetum. fluviatile, collected in a muddy creek near West River. It is more properly a group and consists of twelve or more stems arising from a stout rhizome 127 cm. long. The tallest of these stems is HSy 2 cm., while the average is 109i/ 2 cm. It took sixteen sheets of paper to mount the group. Drying and mounting the many pieces without mixing required quite an amount of care, as can well be imagined. I cannot match Sir. Mousley, with his four fruiting panicles of Botrychium virginianum, as I have only three, the tallest of which is 90 cm. above the sterile frond. Two and three fruiting panicles seem to be fairly common for the genus. My smallest plant of the species is 9V 2 cm., thus exceeding that of Mr. Mousley by iy 2 54 American Fern Journal em. My smallest for the group is 2 1 /! em., of Botrychium lanceolatum var. angustisegmentum. I have fine speci- mens of several species of the genus with their winter "buds or next year's fronds snugly concealed in the bases of the present year's stems. I have large as well as otherwise interesting speci- mens in other groups, but as this is a "Fern Journal" they need not be discussed here. Some plants which are more or less slender can be folded or coiled on a single sheet of paper without detri- ment to their beauty or usefulness ; but others, including many ferns, are broad as well as tall and must be divided if one would show them properly. Of course, in many ' v *** » r V #^ v 1/ V m 9 %J _X X \^ ^y X m ^ X • V^ \J f I» *- W mm ** vv *r H. & B., Dryopteris panamensis C. Chr., a Neplirolepis, a Blechnum, two or three Cheilanthes, and about ten others, including a Selaginella, New Plant Conservation Laws 59 At Cordoba, twenty miles on the way to Vera Cruz, tree ferns begin to make their appearance, and as one goes on to the south into the true Tropics, the workings of nature are going on in the semi-Jurassic Geological Age, so to speak ; that is, relics of that distant age in the animal and plant life are here reproducing themselves. This I will leave for a later article. As already noted in the Journal, the writer will make a collecting trip to the stations mentioned, leaving 'in July, and Fern Society members wishing to make the trip will be welcome. — George L. Fisher, Houston, Texas. New Plant Conservation Laws — Last year the State of Massachusetts passed a law covering the protection of the Trailing Arbutus in that state. In New York State the present session of the Legislature has en- acted an extension of the law passed last year, by the terms of which it was made illegal to pick Trail- ing Arbutus on public property, either in State Park Reservations or on land under the control of towns and villages. The new law calls for the addition of three more plants which shall be similarly protected; namely Mountain Laurel, Flowering Dogwood, and the Pink Lady's Slipper, or Indian Moccasin Flower. AVe may be thankful for the favorable consideration of this 1926 proposal, not only for the measure of protection which will be afforded these plants, but even more be- cause it will represent more extended recognition of the State's interest in the protection of these objects of natural beauty. It will further be valuable as a basis for the publicity and diffusion of interest in the general plant conservation movement, supplementing and sec- onding in this way the various educational measures which are being carried out through schools and the newspapers.— R. C. B. 60 American Fern Journal Mr. Wheeler asks if forked and crested forms are com- mon to all species of ferns. The answer appears to be "yes." Such phenomena are, indeed, always rare in the wild and there are therefore many species in which they have not actually been recorded. But on the other hand there are so many, of both temperate and tropical climes and of very different normal forms of froi d known turn if only a large enough number of individuals (it might take many thousands) could be examined. In other words, there is in all or nearly all ferns a certain in- herent tendency toward this sort of variation which manifests itself now and then in response to stimuli the nature of which is not apparent. In the Fern Bulletin 12 : 114-118, 1904, August Hahne gives a list of forked and crested forms filling three pages; doubtless many more items could be added to it.— C. A. W. America As remarked by Dr. House, Mr. Ransier left an im- portant item out of the story of his distribution of hart's- tongues. A letter of his to the Treasurer supplies the omission : "Enclosed you will find my check for $27.64, the amount I received for Hart 's Tongue ferns, above actual expenses in getting them packed and mailed. " I did not know, when it was suggested that I attend to them, whether I could do the work myself or not, nor just what circumstances I would be up against, so I charged enough to make it practical, with the under- standing that the profits would go into the Treasury, for the purpose of furnishing cuts when needed. ' ' American Pern Society 61 Later advices from Mr. Ransier bring the amount to about $30; he has the heartiest thanks of the editors and, we are sure, of every reader of the Journal. John Hall Sage, a member of the Society since 1916, died in a hospital in Boston, Aug. 16, 1925. He was born at Portland, Conn., April 20, 1847, of old colonial stock, his ancestors on both sides having been among the earliest English settlers in the lower Connecticut valley. He received a high school education. His business career began with a clerkship in the office of the Aetna Life Insurance Co. in Hartford. In 1873 he returned to Portland, to become teller of the local national bank and treasurer of an affiliated savings bank. In these two institutions the rest of his business life was passed. He married Agnes Farwell Kellogg, Sept, 16, 1880. He twice visited Europe; he went with Merriam's ex- pedition for the biological survey of Bit Shasta ; he spent many vacations in the Maine woods (where his last ill- ness overtook him) and parts of others on the Rhode Island coast. His house at Portland, set in ample tree- studded grounds a little back from the main village street, attracted birds and naturalists alike— and both found abounding hospitality. He was a man of many interests. Local history, the work of the church (he was a devout Episcopalian), and all branches of natural history claimed his attention. His observations on plants were often noteworthy. But his principal interest was in ornithology. Realizing that an amateur, if he is really to accomplish anything, must not attempt to cover too wide a field, he deliberately re- stricted himself to the study of the birds of Connecticut. He collected and observed assiduously, to the end of his life spending many days yearly in the field. His last letter to the writer tells of an early spring visit to a favorite spot and records the condition of a colony of climbing fern there. The whole country-side appeared 62 American Fern Journal to have become his assistants; a visit to him was likely to be punctuated by the appearance of a farmer's boy bringing a bird or animal supposed to be rare. He soon became a recognized authority in his chosen field. He was one of the early members of the American Ornithol- ogists' Union, its secretary from 1889 to 1918 and its president from 1918 to 1921. He was the author of nu- merous ornithological papers and co-author of the bul- letin of the Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey on the birds of the state. Rugged of feature— most people would have called him homely, but few can have failed to be attracted by him— modest, kindly, enthusiastic in his own work, and full of helpful interest in that of others, he remains a happy memory to those who knew him. Mr. Sage was the owner of one of the comparatively few complete sets of the Fern Bulletin. This, with his other scientific books and his collections of birds and Hartford. Wadsw Rev. George H. Tilton, a member of the Fern Society since 1922, and author of The Fern Lover's Companion, an illustrated manual of the ferns of northeastern North 8th. Mass Mr. Tilton was born in Nashua, N. H., January 31, 1845. His ancestors settled in New Hampshire in the 17th century near the town of Tilton to which they later Williston nary, Amherst College, and Andover Theological Semi- nary. He also took a two years course in medicine in missionary He held pastorates in Congregationalist churches in Mass w w boro and Lancaster, N. H. In Rehoboth he founded the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society and wrote a history of the American Fern Society 63 town. He wrote a history of the church in Lancaster and a book on the native trees and other plants of that region. Memorial Hanshaw, D.D., LL.D., of Amherst College. His interest in botany and especially in ferns began during his college days at Amherst and continued through his life. His discovery of Botrychium Lunaria at AVilloughby Lake, Vt., was the first record for that species in New England. His fern book was published in 1922 and at the time of his death he was preparing a companion book on mosses. Report of the President for 1925 The activities of the Fern Society for the year just closed were of the usual sort, and, having been for the most part duly reported in the Journal, do not require very much further comment. The Journal, now begin- ning its 16th vear, is in itself the best indication of our success in an important field of nature study. To its pages there are contributed by the members of the So- ciety numerous short items of interest, and many longer articles ranging from narratives of botanical explora- tion at home and abroad to such technical matters as the description of new species and the discussion of evolu- tionary descent ; there is something for nearly every one. a balance which it is not always easy to maintain, and for which the Society rests under deep obligation to its Board of Editors. On the whole, it is the short, live notes, summarizing personal observations as to habit, structure, distribution, and distinctive traits, that carry the greatest interest to the greatest number; and so it is urged once more that the members, scattered far and wide, constitute themselves "committees of one" to pour into the Journal a small flood of pertinent short articles. 64 American Fern Journal In this way, and by a free exchange .of specimens (long a special feature of our activities), will our interest and influence continue to increase. We welcome especially the new members from distant Australia. In one other respect also we have been notably suc- cessful : There are probably very few societies, with so small and widely distributed a membership, whose finan- cial condition is so sound. This is due very largely to the foresight and wise counsel of our former president, C. H. Bissell, whose death occurred in April last. We have also to note with deep regret the death of John H. Sage, long a member of the Society, and of Miss M. A. Marshall, our honored Vice President for several years. Miss Marshall's herbarium of several hundred mounted ferns was bequeathed by her to the Society and has been added to the Herbarium. For the year 1926, many good things are planned, including more pages and more illustrations for the Journal, a summer field meeting in Vermont, a new membership list, made necessary by our recent growth, and a winter meeting during Convocation Week at Phil- adelphia. Without the steady support of the members, for which the officers of the Society are grateful these things would not be possible. Respectfully, William R. Maxon, President Report of the Secretary for the Year 1925 The year 1925 has been marked by a distinct increase in membership. Thirty-one persons have been enrolled and one other restored to membership. Against this we have to set the loss by death of six members, an unusual number in a year, and the resignations of twelve others. Mr. C. L. Gruber has become a life member. The pres- American Fern Society 65 ent records show 315 active members of the Society. This is a net gain over last year of thirteen. The list of those who have died included Miss Marshall, for some time our Vice President, and Mr. Bissell, who was a well known fern enthusiast and expert ; Dr. Brain- erd, of Middlebury College, has also been taken from us by death this year. Perhaps the most outstanding incentive to increase membership has been Dr. Maxon's delightful article in the National Geographic Magazine, for May, 1925, from which we can definitely say certain new members have come. Those who have not seen this article should try to secure copies. It is beautifully illustrated and most interesting. The Secretary wishes again to remind members that the Society has a nearly complete set of the Fern Bul- letin and a complete one of the Journal (and certain other literature besides) which may be borrowed by members on application to him and payment of trans- portation charges. C. S. Lewis, Secretary 66 American Fern Journal Report of the Treasurer for 1925 R ECEIVED » Cash on hand Jan. 1 Membership dues: 1.923 $ 4.50 • 1924 42.00 1925 386.15 1926 28.50 $ 463.09 Total $461.15 Subscriptions to Journal 62.09 Illustrating Fund, gifts, etc. 51.59 Emergency Fund, from Back Nos 47.94 Reprints and postage 12.68 For bad cheek redeemed 1-25 Interest 20.00 Check collection and Misc. 3.58 660.28 Total receipts $1,123.37 Paid Out Treasurer's expenses 15.00 Secretary's expenses 18.65 Eeprints and postage 14.24 Bad check 1-25 Exchange Journal Expense — Illustrating $42.17 Illustrating Fund 22.95 .29 i Total Illustrating .'. 65.12 Printing and postage 310.92 Editor's expense 19.60 Insurance on Back Nos 10.00 Total Journal Expense 405.64 Total Paid Out -t rtT 455,0 Balance on Hand as of Dec. 31 $ 668 ' 30 American Fern Society 67 This balance is made up as follows : Emergency Fund * Brought Forward Jan. 1 $ 87.28 Received Sale of Back Nos 47.94 Balance on Hand $135.12 Illustrating Fund Brought Forward Jan. 1 1.01 Gifts Received 23.95 From H. E. Ransier from sale of Hart's Tongue 27.64 Total Received $ 52.60 * Paid for Illustrations 22.95 Balance on hand 29.65 Special Order holding for Catalog of Herbarium 25.00 General Fu^d From Dues, Subscrip- tions, etc. 478.53 $ 668.30 Special Permanent Fund, established by Life Mem- berships, transfers from the Emergency Fund which comes from the sale of back numbers of the Journal, interest, etc. $ 572.77 On hand Jan. 1 One Life Membership received 25.00 Interest received *""'° Total received — Balance on hand 51.8 $ 624.59 There are no unpaid bills for 1925 so far as the Treas- urer knows. While funds to carry us through any unexpected but possible slump in our prosperity. I recommend that we again transfer $100 from the Emergency Fund to the Perma- nent Fund. 68 American' Fern Journal I am very grateful for the promptness with which the great majority of our members pay their dues. This is a great help to the Treasurer and I thank the members for their assistance in this matter. Respectfully submitted, Jay G. Underwood, Treasurer Report of the Editors for 1925 We are happy to report a satisfactory year for the Journal. For various reasons, no. 1 was greatly de- layed; since then, we have been able to keep at least within sight of our schedule, in spite of a temporary scarcity of copy late in the year. We have again been blessed with an extra appropriation of $30 by the Council; with its aid, with generous gifts from Prof. Schaffner, Mr. Mousley, and Mr. Leonard and the loan of a plate by the Smithsonian Institution, we have been able to publish twelve illustrations — a number unprece- dented since the war — and also six extra pages of read- ing matter. Miss Corne's series has continued through the year; Dr. Maxon's, we hope, will go on forever, or at least till proper disposition has been made of all American ferns. Besides these continuing features, copy has been of good quality and variety and has furnished, we believe, interesting numbers. For all of which we offer our hearty thanks to our contributors. And we venture to remind them that, though we start the year with about enough copy for one number, we shall pres- ently need more, and that the sooner we get it the better. It rarely happens that one is wholly content with his lot. But thanks to the good financial condition of the Society and to the liberality of the Council, we are nearer than ever before to the condition which we have long desired — that of having funds enough to run, when American Fern Society 69 copy is plenty, such necessary matter as Society reports and indexes on extra pages and avoid the delays in the publication of desirable articles which strict limitation in the number of pages has not infrequently occasioned. A comparatively few more members would bring us all the wav. E. C. Benedict, E. J. Winslow, C. A. Weatherby, Editors New members : Barnes, Mrs. Albert C, The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Penna. Brown, Mrs. Ernest C, Unity Lodge, Copake, N. Y. Pratt, Mrs. Charles II., 86 Aberfoyle Road, New Ro- chelle, N. Y. Ryder, Mrs. Mary D., 205 Almaden Ave., San Jose, Cal. Talbot, Harry L., Waverley, Mass. Upham, Alan W., East Woodstock, Conn. Westley, Edwin, 1395 Morton Ave., Pasadena, Cal. Changes of address and corrections. Benfield, Rev. W. A., Sink Grove, W. Va., not Link Grove. Braun, Miss E. Lucy, not Miss Lucy E. ™ West Munz, Philip A., 1165 Indian Hill Blvd., Claremont, Cal. White Mo. Monroe of the Society have an opportunity to attend a field meet- ing in an especially interesting region. With w hospitality, he has invited us, together with the Torrey 70 American Fern Journal Botanical Club and the New York Section of the Green guests ern slopes of Couching Lion (probably better, if less poetically, known as Camel's Hump), Vermont, July 3rd to 5th, and to extend our meeting through the following week if the members present so desire. Vermont has fern Mt are less than twenty miles from the farm ; altogether the prospect is unusually attractive. The nearest railroad station is North Duxbury on the Central Vermont between Montpelier and Burlington. For further details,- write to Prof. Will S. Monroe, Vermont Underwood, Hartland, Vermont. A set of lantern slides showing many species of fern^ growing in the field, prepared by our former member the late Rett E. Olmstead is offered for sale by Mrs. Mar- garet T. Olmstead, Excelsior, Minn., who will gladly sup- ply complete information. THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB MEMBERSHIP Including Bulletin, Memoirs, and Torreya, $5.00 a year PUBUCATIONS Bulletin. Monthly, established 1870. Price, $4.00 a year; single numbers 40 cents. Of former volumes, only 24-47 can be supplied separately. Manuscripts intended for publication in the Bulletin should be addressed to Tracy E. Hazen, Editor, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York City. Torreya. Bi-monthly, established 1901. Price, $1.00 a year. Manuscripts intended for publication in Torreya should be addressed to George T. Hastings, Editor, Bobbins Place, Tonkers, N. T. Memoirs. Occasional, established 1889. Price, $3.00 a volume. Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta and Pteridophyta within 100 miles of New York City, 1888. Price, $1.00. and other business communications Brooklyn Benedict. Brooklyn Botanic FOR ALL PLANT STUDENTS There is only one magazine of popular Botany in America. technical. with the present century and is still published nearly 4,000 botanical articles sin; It is edited by the Founder of the American Fern Society. Quarterly, 48 pages, $1.50 Sample copy S5 cents The American Botanist, Joliet* 111. (We offer vols. 8-20, Fern Bulletin, for $8 postpaid.) The Science Press Printing Company Educational Journals, Monograph v**™> and Books Gen. Manager Information furnished, and detailed estimates submitted Lime and Green Sts., Lancaster, Penna. THE BRYOLOGIST PUBLISHED BY THE SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY The only magazine in English wholly devoted to Mosses, Hepatics, and Lichens. Bimonthly; illustrated; for the beginner as well as for the professional. Yearly subscrip- tion in the United States, $1.25. Twenty-five cents addi- tional gives membership in the SULLIVANT MOSS SOCIETY, with free services of Curators for beginners. ADDRESS A. TENNYSON BEALS 2929 Broadway NEW YORK CITY This Free Catalog Lists Field and Herbarium Equipment Designed by Botanists Collecting Cases Fern Trowels Plant Hand Lenses Felt DrieTS Field Picks Genus WAVERLEY Covers Mounting Papers Write to-day for Catalog F 91 I NICAL COMPANY MASS., U. S. A Vol. 16 July-September, 1926 No, 3 Ammran 3Fmt Journal A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO FERNS Published by tbe AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY »# EDITORS R. C. BENEDICT E. J. WINSLOW C. A. WEATHERBY 3* CONTENTS Gathering Ferns in New Zealand H. B. Dobbib 71 A Remarkable Fern Habitat J- H. S affner 7 On the Trail of Equisetum for Four Thousand Miles. J. H. HAFT :k 81 The West Virginia Locality of the southeastern Relative of Woodsia Scopulina... E. T. Wherry 9 95 97 Down Deep L. H. Lombard Asplenium Gravesii in West Virginia M. Brooks Azolla caroiiniana in Utah i> 0. Garrett 98 A Remarkable Form of Walking Fern American Fern Society " 99 100 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION. $1.23; FOREIGN, $U5 AUBURNDALE, mass. Entered as second class matter at ^*^ b °T^f^ , *l™tai l ee 'f Boston. Mass., Post Office, ander the Act ox Marcfi A'. r?'«^S 1103. f for mailing at special rate ot postage Ponded * Q * a iectifl " llwa ' Act oi October 3. 1817, authorised on July 8, 311a. a &be American iFertt ^nrtety Ghraurtt for 1 9 2 fi William R. Maxon, Washington, D. C. - - - Present Mbs. CiJiLOTTA C. Hall, Berkeley, Calif. - - Vice-president J.zv. l. a. Lewis. 835 VAccvmnA a™ T ra „* n ^ vr t tland, Secretary Treasurer OFFICIAL ORGAN Ammnm Jttn Sournai EDITORS Salth C. Benedict - - 322 East 19th St., Brooklyn, N. Y. E. J. Winslow Anburndale; Mass. C A. Weatiierbt Eaat Hartford, Conn. An illustrated quarterly devoted to the general study of ferns. t» 5« b v ripti ^ n ' , $1 ' 25 per y ear ' f «> r eign, 10 cents extra ; sent free to members of the AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY (annual dues, S™ 6 •l?? nl !f Tah, P» $25.00). Extracted reprints, if ordered in Ul^ 6 ' 7 • furnished authors at cost. They should be ordered when proof is returned. Volume I, sue numbers, $2.00 ; other volumes $1.25 each. Sii back numbers 35 cents each. Volume I, number 1 cannot be i pueu except with complete volume. Ten per cent, discount orders of six volumes or more Matter for publication should be addressed to R. C. Benedict East 19th Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Subscriptions, orders for back numbers, and other business communicatioas should be addressed to E. J. Wi.nst.ow, Auburn dale, Mass. ' CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM L. S. Hopkins - . Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Mo. tfea'w 8 ? 3 ! ^ an . de Partment is maintained in connection with «* „™ ? 7 nwbanum. Members may borrow specimens from it TheZJ^ 6 '* 7? b T orroweT Paying all postal or express charges. LtZ™«T 1 e Jouraa! «e also open to members who wish to thn^^f^if 1 ! 6 ? 5 a memb ership list is published to further assist muse interested in obtaining specimens from different localities. List of Members of the American Fern Society Revised to July 1, 1926 W SUPPLEMENT TO THE AMERICAN FERN JOURNAL VOL. 16, NO. 3 List of Members of the American Fern Society Supplement to American Fern Journal, July, 1926. ('Charter Members; tLife Members; {Honorary Members) Aiken, Walter H.; 1520 Aster Place, Cincinnati, 1911 Allen, Dr. Fred H.; 16 Fairfield Ave., Holyoke, Mass 1921 Allen, Henry V. D.; Care of Canadian Dept., General Electric Co., Schenectady, N. Y 1904 Allen, Walter S.; 224 State St., Flushing, N. £...........„..................... 1917 Ames, Oakes; Ames Botanical Laboratory, North Easton, Mass 1903 Amidon, Dr. Royal Wells; Chaumont, Jefferson Co., N. Y 1911 Anderson, Miss Flora Charlotte; 327 South Henderson St., Bloom- mgton, Ind 19 17 Armstrong, Mrs. C.B.; Trudeau, Ny7777 1906 Arnold William T.; 21 Park Road, Wyomissing, Pa! 1919 Atwood^ Dr Charles; 11 Church St., Moravia, N. Y 1912 Bade, Dr. William Frederic; 2616 College Ave., Berkeley, Cal 1901 Bailey, Dr. Liberty Hyde; Ithaca, N. Y. 1921 n) 7 ' % \ a]d °l 62 Holmes Road > Pittsfield, Mass777777777 1921 i5 ^Chester, N. Y. : 1912 Beam, mR *\ *! 5 merS ° n St " Wak ^eld, Mass 1920 Benedkt T V T Crt 1& r, 16 ° Verl °° k Road > Ithaca ' N ' Y 1923 !, ene ^ ct ' •• E _-> Jr -J 94o Pennsvlvania Ave.. WnahWnn T) fl 1923 1905 ■Rill \t~„ n n ~«',' ** v * l " ,c , ncsi Virginia 1924 BrL £ c ?' } 819 Third St -> Harrisburgf Pa 1922 BoTm"' k ' m; <* ref ^gatan 3, Stockholm, Sweden. 192 Boston *TS H- 201 East Seventh St " S Vrior, Wis 1924 Houghton, Ered_S.; Pittsford, N. Y. „... 1917 1920 X. Y 1916 o K^t LU 7' 27 ° 2 Ma ^ St " Cincinnati, Ohio BrSenrV p am , L V 10 ° 5 Hanison 8t " Syracuse, „. x — Breck^vn g ' M° f * T LeSter Pai ^ North Ferrisburg, Vt 1915 BHstol North Perrisburl Vt 1915 England ' V CIarendon Road > Egbaston, Birmingham, riSt land° eCil T ' 5 17 Clarendou *«■£ EgbMtoi"Bimmgham7Eng- 1910 w York.... 1911 New York.... 1911 1926 B own S \L:ZTV-'' , 48 Hi « h St - New Britain, Conn 1908 tfrown, M,ss Bertha M.; l Greenman Ave., Westerly, R. 1 1921 2 1925 Brown, Miss Elizabeth Gilman; 260 Genesee St., Utica, N. Y 1904 Brown, Mrs. Ernest C.; Unity Lodge, Copake, Columbia Co., N. Y. 1926 Brown, Herbert H.; 158 Glebeholm Blvd., Toronto, Canada 1926 Burgin, Herman, M. D.; 204 W. ftittenhouse St., Germantown, P;i 1915 Burlingham, Charles L. ; 2418 Harrison St., Evanston, 111 1925 Burnham, Stewart Henry; Dept. Botany, College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y 1897 Burrage, Albert C; 85 Ames Building, Boston, Mass 1921 Bush, Benjamin Franklin; Courtney, Mo 1909 Butters, Prof. Frederic K.; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn .. 1917 Campbell, Dr. Douglas Houghton; Leland Stanford Junior Univer- sity, Palo Alto, Calif 1915 tCapp, Seth Bunker; P. O. Box 2054, Philadelphia, Pa 1915 Carhart, Macy; Keyport, N. J 1915 Cheever, Dr. Austin Walter; 16 Elmore St., Newton Center, Mass 1911 Cheney, Prof. Ralph H.; New York University, Washington Sq., New York City Child, Mrs. H. W.; Hotel Bristol, Boston, Mass 191' Child, W. A.; 389 Hess St., South Hamilton, Ontario 1917 Chisholm, Mrs. Maud L. ; Proctor, Vt J™* Choate, Miss Alice D.; 3739 Windsor Place, St. Louis, Mo 1898 tChristensen, Dr. Carl; Botanical Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark. 1915 Clark, Hugh Savage; Lancaster, Mass •• J925 Clarke, Miss Elizabeth F.; 54 Forrester St., Newburyport, Mass.... VM1 Clarkson, E. H.; 41 Tyng St., Newburyport, Mass 1M* *Clute, Prof. Willard Nelson; Joliet, 111 J«|? Connollv, Mrs. T. F.; Elm Way, oft' High St., Westboro, Mass 1M1 Corne, Miss F. E.; Suite 407 Craigie Hall, University Boad, d bridge, Mass 1Q17 Cornman, Mrs. L. R.; 2852 Adams Ave., San Diego, Cal .. Wii Cowan, Alexander; Valleyfield, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland ltfl* Daey, Miss Alice Evelyn; 98 Hemenway St., Boston, Mass *• _ Dane, Mrs. Ernest B.; Roughwood, Chestnut Hill, Mass W« Darling, Miss Nancy; Sky Farm, R. D. No. 2, Woodstock, Vt......... JJ Davenport, Mrs. Elizabeth Braxton; 45 Green St., Brattleboro, Vt. i Deam, Charles Clemon; R. D. No. 6, Bluff ton, Ind JjJJ** Deane, Walter; 29 Brewster St., Cambridge, Mass «« Delafield, Mrs. John R.; 17 East 79th St., New York J ; '*> Demetrio, Rev. C. H.; Emma, Saline Co., Mo ............ J_ Dobbie, H. B.; 84 Market Road, Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand.... iwo Dowell, Dr. Philip; Port Richmond, N. Y ^V] Dunton, Miss Nellie Frances; 14 Green St., Bath, Maine «.~. Durand, Herbert; Crow's Nest Wood, Bronxville, Westchester Co., "NT v l'-** Eames, Mrs. Edward A.; 155 Bryant St., Buffalo, N. Y J»*° Eaton, Frederick W. ; Concord, Mass ii'-'T- Eggleston, Willard Webster; U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washing- ton, D. C 19ig Emmons, Edwin Thayles; Geneva, N. Y IFarwell, Oliver Atkins; 271 Smith Ave., Detroit, Mich J»« Eazro, Mrs. Ernest; West Grove, Pa "•••"" ~ Fellows, Dr. Dana W.; 150 Park Ave., Port Eichmond, N. X *• ™ Ferguson, William C; 37 Atlantic Ave., Hempstead, N. Y *»* 3 im- 1910 1897 Finegan, .Mrs. Thomas E. (Grace B.) ; 613 Xorth Front St., Harris- burg, Pa 192; - Fisher, George L.; 713 Leland Ave., Houston, Texas 1923 Fitzpatrick, Prof. T. J.; Bethany, Neb.... 1911 5?*£ ™ B,; 7563 1!lth Ave '' 8 - W -» Seattle. Wash ZZZZZ 1899 JJUnt, Mrs. Elizabeth; Penryn, Pin, er Co., Cal. 19^5 Floyd, Fred Gilla n ; Hingham, Mass Foote Mrs. E. M. (Caroline C.) ; 119 Earfloth* St," Nw York Cl *y 19 o 5 Forbes, Fayette Frederick; Brookline, Mass ". 1911 rZZl' \r S - E /r Win t'> 14 ° Gibsou St -> Canandaigua, N. ' Y ZZZZZ 1919 c'Z Z! % ^ Mary E.; Park Museum, Providence. R. 1 1921 Gaylor Mrs. Ils.en Nathalie; Hotel Gralyn, 20 Charlesgate West, -Boston, Mass 6 ' 1904 GokK? M™ n f,bet n, ^ 81 Mahoni »g Ave., Youngstown, Ohio.... 1923 Oohhng, Mrs Ada; Mill Eiver, Mass l92o Mass ' Alfl ' ed S "' Dept B0t;, "- T ' Amher'src'olleg^rAmhers't; " ^ray, Kev. Frederick W.; Cass, W Va i- J*.! 957 Bou,e -'^ Astoria, Long islanairNrY: 1921 H h l7L R ° b ^ rt Aimer; Columbia University, New York 1913 H me M FVi « D c. N °- 2 ' Vill ^ard Haven, Mass 1921 ' c FHw L ' u H StatC N ° rmal School > Bloomsburg, Pa 1910 H en' Dr Tr5 U Tn r 7 ; ,f 3 Cr0Wn 8t - New Haven. Conn 1923 H ™'' T ' 7t 10t W C ° lumbia Uni ^rsity, New York 1910 I' ' n . nR "v. 354 Edward Bt, Nwr Haven, Conn.. .. 1923 HoTtzoff Mr?' M ^JFS 6 St ' Be anmont, Texas ifeo Honk.ns' w T J - ; i 45 West 123rd *■» N * w York 1917 J!" mVs FUa L W1S f J Ar ^ h T St °; kt0n Colle ^ <*»*•* Mo 19.0-1 House I) Ho^r n ir MeK " lley Boad ' Worcester, Mass 1911 llowDr £,i hW; Education Building, Albany, N. Y 1918 u .,' F* F V l\, N> Y< Botani ^l Garden, New York 1911 Hun^hrf; n^I n ; m !I! Nat 'L B - k - Pennsburg, Pa 1926 -x-uuer, u. U; Kutztown, Pa. I I'r'f?:! 1 J" 10 ' 24 39th AveTo'a'k'land'.'c;;!': Hi ;v r Mi^r °! t -^ 2633 La L °™ Ave : ,_ Berkeley, Ohio 1920 Hu HUn XT I™ WelleS ' 2nd > 5 University Hall, Cambridge, 1921 geles, 1923 -Huntington, J tt'o , VPn . w „ " ., , "*" " ll,UUJ > ^ie\eianu, unn HotchiW \J« ' H . aver I»» Road, Amesbury, Mass tcmnson, Mrs. Susan W.; 724 So. Orange Drive, Los An Jeilctt', E Iwb C ^ns H mPt ° n In a StitUte ' Vb « tata im Jenks, Ch Ves Will*™ He ™ ann *£> Germantown, Pa 1913 Jennings 0t Z Stonecroft Farm, Bedford, Mass 1908 gs, W. Otto Emery; Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, Pa 1911 4 1912 1923 1 925 _ 7 _ _ Philadelphia, Pa Johnson,. Frank W.J 1362 Amherst St., Buffalo, N. Y 1925 Jurica, Hilary S.; St. Procopius College, Lisle, 111 l!>19 Kamm, Mrs. Minnie Watson; 4364 Lakewood Blvd., Detroit, Mich 1923 Kaufman, Miss Pauline; 173 East 124th St., New York 1900 Keeler, Mrs. L. M.; P. O. Box 473, Scarsdale, N. Y 1913 Kelsey, Harlan P.; Salem, Mass 1921 Kemp, Prof. J. D. : Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University, New York 1^22 IKidder, Nathaniel T.; Milton, Mass 1921 Killip, Ellsworth P.; U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C 1916 Kimball, Miss Laura F.; Box 50, K. Route No. 1, National City, San Diego Co., Cal 18 $l Kimber, Miss N. B.; Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa 1925 Kinnard, Mrs. L. H.; Wister Road, Wynnewood, Pa 1924 Kirkham, Prof. William B.; 100 Mill St., Springfield, Mass 1921 Kittredge, Miss E. ML; Box 352, Berlin, N. Y ••• 192 <- Knappen, Mrs. Theo. M. (Nellie C.) ; 2925 Tilden St., N. W., Wash- ington, D. C JJfj Knowlton, Clarence Hinckley; Hingham, Mass iy11 Knowlton, Dr. Frank Hall; U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. iQ9i Kobbe, Frederick W.J 1155 Park Ave., New York City 1SW1 Landreth, W. G. ; Lancaster, Pa ■ Laughlin, Mrs. Charles P.; 333 North Sandusky St., Delaware, Ohio Lee, Mrs. Eva M.; 55 Logan Road, Bishopstown, Bristol, England 1VM Leeds, Arthur N.; Nixon Street, above Leverington Ave., Manayunk, Leland, George H.; 2 Hunter St., Providence, R. I 1921 Lenington, Mrs. Julia; R, D. No. 2, Pomona, Cal ........ JJg- Leonard, Emery C; National Museum, Washington, D. U.-..~~ ±> - Lewis, Rev. Charles Smith; 835 Edgewood Ave., Trenton, N. J JJJ# Lewis, Stella M.; 137 Flower Ave., West, Watertown, N. Y™ gg Lewis, Rev. William Fisher; 835 Edgewood Ave Trenton V J ^ L'-htfo- te, William G.; 13 M'asonic Temple, Canada igua , N X JJg Liiii ic 5 MissAmevA.; 429 Lloyd Ave., Providence R. 1 jjg Lippincott, Stanley S.; 802 Columbia Ave., Palmyra, .V J JJ Litch, C. M.; 14 Burnap St., Fitchburg, Mass ....... * Logue, Dr. Everett G.; 1601 Almon St., Williainsport 1 a « Lombard, Mrs. Charles P.; 92 Court St., Plymouth, Mass.- ._-. . Lombard, Dr. Robert H.; Geophysical Laboratory, 2801 Upton »*♦, ^ N. W., Washington, D. C V'*'^V'V' , 'i"i'"i V« ' Pq 1011 Long, Bayard ; 250 Ashbourne Road, Elkins Park, Philadelphia, Pa. 1911 Lorenz, Miss Annie; 25 Arnoldale Eoad, Hartford, C onn . • Lowe, Mrs. Frank E.; 59 State St., Portland. Maine J» Lownes, Albert E.; 69 Manning St., Providence, K. U.... Lyon, Dr. Harold Lloyd; P. O. Box 411, Honolulu, H. L ";~V"""" ' McAvoy, Miss Blanche; Box 109, Foley Eoad, Price Hill Ma., ^^ Cincinnati, Ohio •; in« MaeCaskill, Allan, Jr.; Coleraine, Victoria, Australia J- -•_ McColl, W. R.; 908 2nd Ave. East, Owen Sound, Ontario MacFadden, Mrs. J. P.; New Denver, B. C •• : ••-; McFarland, Prof. Frank T.; University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky Mackenzie, Kenneth K.; 150 Broadway, New York ~ 5 1924 191" 1923 Mclnthe, Mrs. Jessie; E. 5, Box 515B, 2930 Waver ly Ave., Los Angeles, Cal 1922 Mansfield, Mrs. Bessie K.; Westboro, Mass 1921 Mansfield, William; College of Pharmacy, Albany, N. Y 1922 Mark, Miss Clara G. ; 270 South State St., Westerville, Ohio 1913 Marshall, Dr. Ruth; Rockford College, Rockford, 111 1914 Martin, Everett P.; 85 Wilson Ave., Flushing, N. Y 1917 Maxon, Dr. William Ralph; U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C 1895 Mendelson, Dr. Walter; 639 Church Lane, Germantown, Pa 1910 Merrill, G. K.; 564 Main St., Rockland, Maine 1913 Merrill, Henry Wilson; Hiram, Maine 1906 Mirick, Miss Nellie; 232 East Walnut St., Oneida, N. Y 1896 Mitchell, Mrs. Mina B., M. D.; Box 48, Station A, Chattanooga, Tenn ° 1914 Monroe, Prof. Will S.; R. No. 3, Waterbury7 VtZ!ZZ!!"""!""Z"!!! 1923 Moore, Dr. George T. ; Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Mo. 1915 Morrill Mrs. Frank A.; 87 Walpole St., Norwood, Mass 1916 Morse Prof A P.; Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass 1925 Moss, Mrs. C. L. ; Box 1176, Johannesburg, South Africa 1916 .\ omer, Dr. David Myers; Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. 1911 aiousiey, H.; 469 Harvard Ave., Notre Dame de Grace, Montreal, Canada ' 2920 Mulford, iliss Harriet; 127 Fuiton MZKempstoa^'KYZZ~. 1910 Mass ^ S ' 5 Jefferson Physical Laboratory, Cambridge, Munger Dr. Edwin Holmes ; ""^'u^^'b^^ ComZZZ"! 1914 Munz, Prof. Philip A. ; 1165 Indian Head Blvd., Claremont, Cal 1921 Nelson, James C; 104 E. Wilson St., Salem, Oregon 1918 Jewell Chauncey Jackson; Alstead, N. H. ... 1902 J2 nw E ^ lira Elsie; R °- Box No - 32 °, Portsmouth, Va 1893 Olesen Olaf Martm; Fort Dodge, Iowa .. 1900 SSp v T ry ,- H - ; . 27 ° S - State St - Westerville, Ohio 1920 Osnnn V 7"A^ dl f,f ; »« Winthrop St., Winthrop, Mass 1924 oXrlmJr p Alb !^^ in ^nt; Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. 1901 S A ; ^l Brinkme y er Ave -> So - °™™ Park„N. Y. 1920 Sv r, ker L*?v FlTS \ Ave -> N - E > Seattle > W:lsh : 1921 ••, m' , %V; ! T Imnie L ' ; 127 R obineau Road, Syracuse, N. Y 1915 PaW t £ n? 8e; 321 South Allen St., Webb City, Mo 1909 1-' nier, T. Chalkley; Media, Pa 189' Ton, D. T c e °' Sherman ' 1939 Biltmore St., N.W., Washing- PmpL^'vr J ' ?• v5 Anna °"> *" 51 W^tern ''ATe7ciiSdal©rJto 1923 Fatte.son Mrs. Roberta M.; 422 Randolph St., N. W., Washington, p...,, \r ; • 192° pShn, 1S lf Ag wl M ; ; Brookdal * Farm, Holcomb, N. Y 1925 •Pettv Pr J V edCT H - ; Da ^nport Neck, New Rochelle, N. Y. 1917 Phair 7 \nL r V £ J ^ 7 ° 8 Central Ave "> 0cea ^ City, N. J 1893 PidSt Pro? l5 rUde G V 8 ° 4 East 19th St -> Brooklyn, N. Y 1916 ton PnL' m w \ ayt ° n ' Ph - D - State Coll 4e of Washing- prt . t0 "' Mailman, Wash s & 1914 Pond Bm Z w r v, i8 ii an ; 3933 Low «des ^E^Me^ZZ.. 1898 PraU MrTci^rl d i en; c 18 Tremont 8t " B ° ston > Mass. 1910 Protz Harold W 8 ^L ?? A °erfoyle Road. New Rochelle, N. Y 1926 ' Harold W.; 368 Union St., Allentown, Pa 1909 6 Prince, Prof. S. Fred; State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kan. 1905 Purdy, Carl; Ukiah, Cal 1921 Purdy, F. A.; Hardwick, Yt 1921 Radio, Miss Dora A.; 32 Cherry St., North Adams, Mass 1894 Ransier, Herbert Earl; Manlius, N. Y 1902 Redles, George; 207 East Wister St., Germantown, Pa 1913 Rhodes, Charles Oman; Lock Box 366, Groton, N. Y 1896 Richardson, H. H.; 10 State St., Boston, Mass 1922 Ridlon, Harry Cooper; Green Mountain School, Bennington, Vt 1908 Roberts, Miss Louisa Wright; 520 Roberts Ave., Syracuse, N. Y 1915 Robertson, Carl T.; 1626 Holyrood Road, N. E., Cleveland, Ohio.... 1921 Robinson, Dr. Winifred J.; Women's College of Delaware, Newark, Del 1911 Rooney, Mrs. Anna K.; 368 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y 1916 tRossberg, William B.; 44 Hawkins St., New Britain, Conn 1911 Rugg, Harold Goddard; Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H 1906 Rust, Miss Sarah H.; 6 Beacon St., Boston, Mass 1922 Ryder, Mrs. Marv D.; 205 Almaden Ave., San Jose, Cal 19'2u Sanford, Mrs. James R.; 110 East Miller St., Newark, New York... 1926 Sanford, Mrs. R. M. (Olive O.) ; 528 East Main St., Ravenna, Ohio. 1925 Sanford, Samuel Newton Folius; P. O. Box 702, Fall River, Mass. 1918 Schaffner, Prof. John H.; Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 1920 Scott, James Grimshaw; 123 West Price St., Germantown, Pa 1913 Scott, Mrs. Willard; 1651 Beacon St., Brookline, Mass 1917 Scoullar, Mrs. Albert E.; Sebago Lake, Maine.. 1^4 Seaman, Miss Helen; 11 Winthrop Place, Maplewood, N. J 191) Shreve, Dr. Forrest; Desert Botanical Laboratory, Tucson, Ariz 1912 Sims, Robt. J.; Japanese Beetle Lab., Riverton, N. J 19j-j> Smiley, Daniel; Lake Mohonk Mountain House, Mohonk Lake, N. Y. 1922 Smith, Mrs. Frank C; 47 West St., Worcester, Mass 1^20 Smith, Lyman B.; 1 Wolcott Terrace, Winchester, Mass 1924 Somerville, Mrs. J. H.; Superior, Wis 1923 Spalding, Miss Rebecca Wentworth; 2 St. Nicholas Place, New York. 1921 Spalding, Mrs. William; 405 Comstock Ave., Syracuse, N. Y 1923 Standley, Paul Carpenter; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C 191;) Steagall, Miss Mary M.; 808 S. Illinois Ave., Carbondale, 111 1923 Stearns, Mrs. H. B.; Saranac Lake, N. Y •• ]»"» Stebbins, George Ledyard, Jr. ; 33 Claverly Hall, Cambridge, Mass. 1MB Steil, Dr. William N.; 188 23rd St., Milwaukee, Wis 191b Stowell, Willard A.; 41 Delawareview Ave., Trenton, V J J»w Stratton, Mrs. G. W.j 518 Franklin Ave., Wilkinsburg, Pa IjJljJ Stupp, Fred J.; 1 Sherman St., Auburn, N. Y JJJJ Suksdorf, Wilhelm Nikolaus; Bingen, Wash ~ »" Swain, Rev. James Ramsey; 428 South 44th St., Philadelphia, Pa 191» Swinerton, John R.; 2115 Chestnut Ave., Newport News, Va 19UJ Talbot, Harry L.; Waverly, Mass ; ™ Taylor, Dr. Aravilla M.; Lake Erie College, Painesville, Ohio 19£J Taylor, Norman; Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y 1^- Tilley, Trenor P.; 1356 Northampton St., Holyoke, Mass MMl Todd, Dr. J. B.; 740 South Beech St, Syracuse, N. Y l™> Topping, D. LeRoy; P. O. Box 2356, Honolulu, T. H ^Jb Trudell, Harry W.; 2030 East Madison St., Philadelphia, Pa ljia True, Eben; Amesbury, Mass iy " j Underwood, Jay Gove; Hartland, Vt 7 1910 Upham, Alan W.; East Woodstock, Conn 1926 Upham, Miss Ethel E.; East Woodstock, Conn 19*22 Van Everen, Mrs. Horace; 13 Kirk land Ave., Cambridge, Mass 1923 Van Meter, Miss Mary G.; 1757 K St, N. W., Washington, D. C... 1923 Victoria, Prof. Marie; Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Canada 1917 Walton, Kev. A. J.; Box 913, Logan, West Virginia... 192.1 Ward, Mrs. Norman X. (Isadora T.) ; 618 Berkeley Ave., Orange, N. J 1925 Ware, Robt. Allison; 246 Devonshire St., Boston, Mass 1903 •Waters, Dr. Campbell E.; 5812 Chevy Chase Parkway, Washing- ton, D. C _ 189n Watkins, Miss Clara E.; 249 East 30th St., New York Citv 1925 Weatherby, Charles Alfred; 11 Wells Ave., East Hartford, Conn 1912 Weatherby, Mrs. Charles Alfred; 11 Wells Ave., East Hartford, Conn 1914 Wells, Percy E.; Maples, Ontario, Canada 1923 Westley, Edwin; 1395 Morton Ave., Pasadena, Cal 1926 Wharton, Miss Snsan P.; 910 Clinton St., Philadelphia, Pa 1011 Vv heeler, Dr. Edward J.; 25 South Hawk St., Albany, N. Y 1907 Wheeler, Mrs. George C. (F. H.) ; 278 Havan Ave., Manhattan, New York City 1925 Wheeler, Miss Harriet; Chatham, N. Y 1895 tWheeler, Leston Ansel; Townshend, Vt 1914 Wherry, Dr. Edgar T.; Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Agri- culture, Washington, D. C . 1918 White, Kelton E.; 411 North Newstead Ave.* "St." Louis'" Mo". '...!! 1919 \\hitman Mrs. William, Jr.; 17 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, Mass. 1922 \\i cox, Prof. Alice Wilson; Brennan College, Gainesville, Ga 1915 Witos^MiSB Carrie Hammond; 1428 Park Ave., Baltimore, Md. 1904 \ illis, Warren J.; Care Westinghouse Patent Dept., Lester, Pa 1923 w il?' E1 5 iei > Jr ' ; Tom P ki ^ Cove, Rockland Co. N. Y 1920 Wmkler, PA; 1990 Magnolia Ave, Beaumont, Texas 1925 UVmslow Evelyn James; 222 Grove St., Auburndale, Mass 1902 Wmslow, Miss Inez J. ; Orleans, Vt ... 1911 Wn^ ar< i RiC ^ d WilUam ' 22 Colle ^ St'; New*m^ii7conn:::.... 1915 Wr ^1 rV rS \? ffie Adams; 5 Clarks Road Amesburv, Mass 1921 Wright, Miss Mary F.; Bellfield & Lindlev Aves., Logan. Philadel- phia, Pa J ' * ' ^925 Young, John P.; Ithaea, nI'y 1920 Ziegler, S. R.; E. D. No. 4, Dover,TaZZIZ^::"ZZ"Z^"Z 1918 Total 319 To the Members 1ot\°<™ ^1,7*1 a /V' ltere8ted in ferQ s about the Society, what it has done ror j. ,u, and what it has to offer: n/rLw be S; un f s ; Herl >«irium specimens and back numbers of fern 8DfJ?n.Pn« 7 maj be borrow e