200 Maxon — A New Fern from Western North America. 



some cases serrated as the variety was originally described. Be 

 that as it may, the species here described as new is clearly not 

 closely related to either of Hooker's "varieties." It comprises 

 the common form of the whole monntain-region of the western 

 United States, and is essentially different from the material of 

 eastern North America. I propose the name: 



Polypodium hesperium. 



Rhizome rather stovit, firm, creeping, chaffy with dark brown scales; 

 fronds 4 to 13 inches long, clustered: stipe 1 to 5 inches Ions', smootli, 

 decidedly stramineous; lamina 3 to 8 inches long, 1 to If inches broad, 

 linear-oblong, apical portion usually entire and acuminate, texture 

 thinner than in vulgare, the under surface sparsely glandular; pinnae 

 mostly alternate, 6'^ to 10^^ long, 3^^ to 5^' broad, elliptical or somewhat 

 spatulate, always narrowest at base, broadly rounded at tip; margins 

 obscurely (or, less often, decidedly) crenate; veins forking two or usual- 

 ly three times, veinlets free; sori very large, oval, borne midway be- 

 tween the midvein and margin, at the end of the lowermost veinlet; 

 spores greenish-yellow, smoothish. 



Type specimen, No. 303,284 in the U. S. National Herbarium, Smith- 

 sonian Institution, collected by M. W. Gorman, No. 642, August 21, 

 1897, in Coyote Canon, liake Chelan, Washington. The geographical 

 distribution of the species embraces the territory from the Rincon and 

 San Francisco Mountains in Arizona to Washington and British Colum- 

 bia, Idaho and Montana. Within this region vulgare does not occur. 



It is doubtful whether hesperhim is very closely related to the eastern 

 vulgare. Its affinities seem rather to lie with the Polypodiums of the 

 Pacific coast, one especially notable feature which it possesses in com- 

 mon with them being the hard licorice-like rootstock. The rhizomes of 

 the eastern vulgare, on the other hand, are not only spongy and cpiite 

 acrid but more or less unsavory in taste. The chaff of Itexperium too is 

 very much darker than that of the material of the eastern United States 

 and the stipes are much more thickly clustered. The most prominent 

 feature is the very characteristic shape of the pinnae, often half as 

 broad as long. 



The name is chosen in allusion to the occurrence of the species in 

 western North America. It is barely possible, but hardly probable, that 

 the species here described is identical with the var. rotumlatvm of 

 Milde, which is however antedated by the Poli/podkivi rotuiulatiiin of 

 Sieber, applied to a West Indian species. 



Nearly fifty specimens of this species have been examined, from the 

 herbaria of the National Museum, Yale University, the California Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, Professor L. M. fTnderwood, Mr. R. I). (Jilbert, aiul 

 Mr. J. B. Flett. I desire to express my thanks to the curators of the 

 public herbaria and to the gentlemen above mentioned, especially to 

 Mr. Flett who has fiirnished an excellent suite of specimens from Wash- 

 ington, ranging from altitudes of 3G00 to 5r)()0 feet. 

 U. S. National Museum, Washington. I). C. 



