24 Maxon — A New Botryckium from Alabama. 



elevation of 200 feet, some six or seven miles west of that city. Of these 

 specimens, No. 510,782, U. S. National Herbarium, collected in August, 1905, 

 is designated as type. The only other material seen is a single sheet 

 of small plants collected somewhere in the vicinity of Mobile by the late 

 Dr. Chas. Mohr, who regarded them as "an ambiguous form" which he 

 was unable to place with certainty. 



The following note on habitat is kindly contributed by Mr. Dukes: 



"Nearly all the material of this plant [B. Alabamensf] has been found 

 at Spring Hill. * * * The few isolated plants so far found at lower eleva- 

 tions were small and nearly always misshapen. The best specimens are 

 invariably found in open thickets under the shelter of cedars and yanpon 

 trees or along yaupon hedges at the edges of old abandoned fields and pas- 

 tures. Like all the Botrychia in this section it is found in colonies of from 

 two or three to often as many as fifty or more. * * * It puts up its new 

 frond after the late summer rains, towards the middle "of August, at about 

 the same time as B. tenuifnlimn, and is often found growing in close prox- 

 imity to the latter ; indeed, you seldom find one without finding the other 

 also. The fruiting fronds develop ordinarily from the middle of September 

 to the first of October but vary several weeks according to weather condi- 

 tions ; during dry seasons they are late in appearing." 



The present form stands somewhat between B. obliquum and B. hiter- 

 natum. From the former, which in a typical state is apparently altogether 

 wanting from Alabama, it differs conspicuously in its lax habit, usually 

 longer-stalked divisions and short rounded segments. From the latter 

 species, which is well known for its unique seasonal character {i. e. fruiting 

 in early spring), it departs otherwise in the greater size of all its parts, its 

 non-prostrate habit, decidedly thinner texture and less divaricate branch- 

 ing. In a way, however, dwarfed plants of B. A lahamense and uncommonly 

 robust specimens of B. biternatum simulate each other rather closely and 

 offer a possible suggestion as to the origin of the latter. Further discussion 

 of their relationship may well be deferred until the publication of a paper 

 which Mr. Dukes has prepared, descriptive of B. biternalum as it occurs 

 in Alabama, with particular reference to its peculiar seasonal appearance. 

 But whatever their phytogeny may have been it appears scarcely open to 

 question that the two are at the present time specifically distinct. 



Incidentally it may be mentioned that the plants to which Mr. Dukes re- 

 fers as B. fenulfitlium are much larger than those originally described by 

 Professor Underwood and not altogether typical in cutting. 



