m 



( >4 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Nov. 



In some cases a fern is so restricted in distribution that it is 

 a matter of little difficulty to decide upon its natural habitat. 

 In others, certain species are found in various locations 

 presenting different conditions, and a comparison has to be made 

 of plants and stations before a conclusion can be arrived at. As 

 a general rule, a fern of normal size, of a healthy color and spore 

 producing is growing in its natural location. 



The conclusions of the writer are based on investigations 

 made chiefly in the counties of York, Peel, Waterloo, Huron, 

 Grey and Bruce. 



Pteris'aquilina L. (Common Brake or Bracken). Is so 

 widely distributed that we may say it is found almost through- 

 out this hemisphere. In some localities the specimens are 

 gigantic in comparison with ours. In Oregon it attains a height of 

 six to seven feet; in the Andes of fourteen feet. It is found also 

 in Great Britain. In the Journal of the Linnaean Society, 

 Boodle gives its height in England as seven to eight feet. Its 

 occurence in the Highlands of Scotland is evident, as Sir Walter 

 Scott mentions it several times in "The Lady of the Lake": 



"From shingles gray their lances start, 

 The bracken brush sends forth the dart." 



'Each warrior vanished where he stood, 

 In broom or bracken, heath or wood." 



"The next all unreflected shone 

 On bracken green or cold gray stone." 



A plant of such wide distribution must be capable of an extended 

 range of variation without endangering its life processes. But 

 as it often occurs in large patches extending over localities 

 that introduce different ecological factors, a conclusion can be 

 arrived at with a fair amount of confidence by a comparison 

 of specimens from different parts of the station. 



The preferred habitat of Pier is is the top or slope of a dry 

 hill covered with sandy loam. The shade producing plants 

 almost invariably present are poplars, paper birch, sumach, 

 pin cherry and hemlock. It is found near Credit Forks on sand- 

 stone strata covered by only a few inches of loam; in this 

 locality it is associated with Aspidium spinulosum and shaded 

 chiefly by pin cherry and paper birch. On passing in from the 

 face of the cliff the loam becomes of greater depth and the timber 

 consequently larger and of greater variety. The additional shade 

 producing plants are hard "and "soft maple and beech. This 

 shade dwarfs the Pteris in^spite of the increased depth of loam. 



