1 66 Rhodora [Auourr 



It has been in use by Shimek for a long time. Mr. Gilbert has 

 adopted it, and Mr. Clute has signified his intention of doing so for 

 the future. More recently Mr. House, and now Prof. Waters has 

 adopted it in his admirable Analytical Key for the Ferns of the North- 

 eastern States Based on the Stipes. As against Dryopteris its 

 claims are twofold: — first, the derivation of its name — from ve<f>po<; 

 (nephros) referring to the kidney form of indusium — exactly indicates 

 its generic character; second, it rests upon at least four clearly 

 defined species that accurately represent the generic characters. 



Finally we may sum up the various points of this article as fol- 

 lows : — (i) Nephrodium as a genus has been in existence for more 

 than one hundred years (2). With the exception of the brief period 

 of four years intervening between Swartz's reference of it to Aspi- 

 dium in 1806, and its restoration by Robert Brown in 181 o, it has 

 been recognized in one form or another from the time of its original 

 publication to the present. (3) Having been established on a special 

 character the subsequent addition of other characters could not 

 destroy the force of the original. 



What I wish most to emphasize here is this: — Niephrodium rests 

 primarily on the character of its indusium. The nature of its vena- 

 tion had nothing to do with its original definition. In subsequent 

 revisions, based on new sets of characters in which the venation 

 had become prominent, t lie character of the original species should 

 have been considered as typical of the genus. The fact that this 

 was not always done, however, does not deprive us of the right to 

 maintain the genus in its present form. 



Medford, Massachusetts. 



Some Additions to the Flora of Massachusetts.— On the 29th 

 of May of this year Mr. Ezra Brainerd and I found a large colony of 

 bushes of Crataegus scabritia, Sargent, near the banks of a small 

 stream some two miles west of Williamstown. This appears to have 

 been the first time that this common Vermont species has been 

 noticed in Massachusetts. On the same day we found Crataegus 

 asperifolia, Sargent, along the road between Williamstown and North 

 Adams. This is also a new plant for Massachusetts. The following 

 day we saw near the summit of a high rock close to the main street 



