lo THE PLANT WORLD. 



inches. The stipe and rachis without or with but few brown scales^ 

 being chaffy at the base ; sori generally not fully developed on all the 

 very sharply serrated pinnae, but remaining small. This variety is a 

 common Yosemite form at this altitude, which undoubtedly has much 

 to do with its transition from the type. D. rigida argnta is abundant 

 throughout the valle}' in rocky places. This common Californian fern 

 closely resembles the various forms of our eastern L\ spinulosa in gen- 

 eral appearance, being about as variable. 



In the "fern grotto" near the top of Vernal Falls, June 22d, Adi- 

 antum pedatiim was seen growing luxuriantly in the showers of mist. 

 None could be obtained from the stairway which ascends from the 

 wet, slippery trail below, as it was just out of reach. Once, the beau- 

 tiful Maidenhair is out of the reach of tourists, although many try to 

 grasp it daily, it is so handsome in this damp grotto where the sun 

 never shines. 



Aspleniuui filix-fivmina., a cosmopolitan species occurring in num- 

 berless forms throughout the United States, was foimd with the Cys- 

 topteris in the first two localities given under that species. The 

 fronds were very young, but new fruit had started. In the Coast 

 Ranges it attains its maturity in September, enough nourishment be- 

 ing obtained during the wet season to keep it green during three or 

 four months of the dry. 



Selaginella rupestris, a fern-ally of great range, was abundant on 

 the rocky trail to Yosemite Point. June i8th. An Equisetum, too im- 

 mature and meagre for determination, was found in water on Eagle 

 Peak, July 2d, altitude over 8,000 feet. It resembles E. hieniale more 

 than any other species, and probably belongs here. This completes 

 the ferns preserved and particularly noted, although the common Cal- 

 ifornian ferns, viz: Polypodiitm vulgare^ AdiantitJii eniarginatitiii, and 

 the handsome Dryopteris aculeata must have been seen. 



Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Lemmon's list of Yosemite Ferns in Hutch- 

 ing's " In the Heart of the Sierras " is much more complete, and prob- 

 ably too full, as many botanists now think. Since the great influx of 

 tourists to the \"alley, many of the delicate ferns and flowers are ruth- 

 lessly carried away as mementos, so that the time is not very far dis- 

 tant when the granite walls will be devoid of ferns in accessible places. 



