Proceedings of the Club 409 



•taries * on the leaves of Pteridhim aquilinum. The glands are 

 found on the rachis, oue below the insertion of each pinna, and 

 may be recognized as modified oval areas covered by a dark red 

 epidermis. The color is due to the presence of matter dissolved 

 in the sap, and is found also in lines running up and sometimes 

 down the rachis from the glands. These are very active during 



the rapid growth of the frond, their activity ceasing on the attain- 

 ment of maturity. The secretion, which is very abundant, is 

 formed independently of bleeding pressure, and the fluid is thick 

 and syrupy. So rapidly does it accumulate that one may notice 

 the increase in the size of the drops with a hand lens. The secre- 

 tion escapes through modified stomata similar in form to the 

 water-stomata of Tropacolum. The glandular tissue beneath ex- 

 tends deeply into the cortical mass of the petiole ; its cells are small 

 and contain chlorophyll. 



Small ants, and one honey-gathering dipterous insect were 

 noticed visiting the glands ; none were seen to be gnawed by the 

 insects. As Francis Darwin observed, the plant has few natural 

 enemies or none, and the interpretation must be sought in the in- 

 ternal economy of the plant, probably in connection with nutri- 

 tion. The abundant excretion of sugar may be a carrier of or an 

 accompaniment to the excretion of some harmful substance. It is 

 noteworthy that up to the present time no other pteridophyte has 

 been reported to be possessed of nectar-secreting organs. The 

 plants on which the observations were made grew near Bantam 

 Lake, Litchfield, Conn. 



Dr. Britton remarked on a young tree of the Swamp Spruce, 

 Picca brcvifolia Peck, found during the day in a sphagnum bog 

 near Litchfield, and stated that this was probably the most south- 

 ern known station for this species in New England. The short 

 glaucous leaves and nearly glabrous twigs readily distinguish this 

 tree from the Black Spruce, P. Mariana, 



Mrs. Britton exhibited specimens of the red-flowered Colum- 

 bine of the Litchfield region, and remarked on its growth in open 

 fields and the pubescent character of the plant, differing in these 

 features from the plant of the vicinity of New York, which inhabits 



* Described briefly by Francis Darwin ('77), and later by Figdor ('91). 



