*i(LIBRARY|S"l 



THE OTTAWA NATURALIST 



VOL. XXlY. OTTAWA, JULY, 1910 No. 4 



FERN HUNTING IN ONTARIO. 



By Francis J. A. Morris, 

 (Trinity College School, Port Hope, Ont.) 



A life-long lover of flowers and ferns, I had been ten years 

 in Canada, roaming the country side for flowering plants before 

 I ventured to tackle the ferns. The fact is I greatly over- 

 estimated the difficulties of identification in these most beautiful 

 of foliage plants. It was only because I had almost exhausted 

 the lists of "finds" in Ontario flowers that I made up my mind 

 to add the pteridophytes to my amateur botanist's list. 



The beginning was made in Great Britain five years ago 

 during a botany trip in North Wales and the Lake District. I 

 w^as agreeablv surprised to find identification comparatively easy. 

 The A B C of the art, as I remember, was -close and frequent 

 scrutiny of the back of every fern I found. This in July meant 

 inspecting the sori or clusters of spore cases and noticing whether 

 they were covered by an indusium or not ; and if so whether this 

 was circular or oblong. By that means I soon grew familiar with 

 the two kinds most rich in species in northern latitudes, the 

 Aspidia or Shield Ferns (with circular indusium), and the 

 Asplenia or Spleenworts (with oblong indusium). Two of the 

 commonest of British are the Male Fern (Aspidium Filix-mas) 

 and the Lady Fern {Asplenium Filix-jemina) ; the first of these 

 is not common in Ontario, indeed only doubtfullv native to the 

 province, having been found at Roystone Park near Owen 

 Sound; but some other species of Aspidium are common to both 

 countries, e.g., ^4. spinulosum, A. cristatuni, and A. Thelypteris. 

 Among the Spleenworts are many species of interest in Europe, 

 though perhaps not more in number or interest than those of 

 North America. The result of a most enjoyable 6 weeks' fern- 

 hunting was familiarity with 13 species belonging to 7 genera. 

 This was in 1905, and on a second visit to England 3 years later, 

 after 2 seasons' collecting in Ontario, I got twice as manv in the 

 same time and over the same ground. The fact is, experience to 

 a collector counts for more than anything else. The three genera 

 I found most useful to know, by way of nucleus about which to 



