262 Tlie Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. XI, No. 3, 



One is surprised that such a conspicuous plant as the present 

 could have eluded the botanists so long. The reason is probably 

 two-fold. The plant grows only in the wildest ravines in the most 

 inaccessible part of the state. The place where it was first found 

 has never been entirely denuded of its virgin timber. Moreover, 

 it appears to flower rather infrequently as may be seen from the 

 circumstances attending the discovery. The writer in company 

 with Mr. B. B. Fulton had spent four days camping in the hills 

 and had been tramping continuously through exactly similar 

 country but it was not seen until the afternoon of the last day 

 when two patches, the first flowering and the second not, were 

 found. Later in the summer, however, after the vegetative stage 

 of the plant had become familiar it was found to be common in 

 similar situations all through the region traversed on the earlier 

 trip. Had blossoms been abundant it could hardly have been 

 overlooked, for on account of its stoloniferous habit, it everywhere 

 grows in large beds. It must be remarked, however, that the 

 spring of 1910 was marked by very severe frosts which destroyed 

 the fruit crop, and may have adversely affected the buds of this 

 plant so that further observations will be necessary to determine 

 whether the lack of flowers was a usual or an accidental phe- 

 nomenon. 



Except for the Ohio station the species seems to be narrowly 

 limited to the mountains. It also appears to be rare throughout 

 most of its range, unless perhaps in Pennslyvania where it is cited 

 by Porter without comment from five of the mountain counties. 

 It does not extend into New York, however, but becomes rare 

 before the northern boundary of Pennsylvania is reached. Dud- 

 ley in the Lackawanna Flora knew of but two stations, Kingston 

 and Forty Fort, from the first of which he cites a single plant and 

 from the second a single bed. It occurs in the mountains which 

 fonn the boundary between Kentucky and Virginia, being reported 

 from near the line in both states. In Tennessee, Gattinger cites 

 but one locality, Ducktown, Polk Co., and significantly adds 

 another in southwestern Virginia. There are several stations in 

 the mountains of western North Carolina. It reaches its south- 

 ernmost limit in Alabama where it is reported from only one county 

 Cullman, by Mohr, with the notation, "rare." If the species is 

 as rare through its whole range as these citations would seem to 

 indicate,- it is a noteworthy exception to the general rule. In 

 nearly all cases the "rare plants" of any region are merely on the 

 edges of their ranges and in the proper ])laces are common enough. 



