70 THE PLANT WOELD 



of intense suffering. He was found by a mail carrier who lieard Ms 

 stentorian cries at a distance of a mile and a half. 



Of the exquisite Asplenlmn myriophyUum there are two marked 

 forms in this locality, and I have given both of them wide distribution, 

 It seems that they differ only in size, but there is no apparent reason 

 why one grows so much larger than the other. On the under side of a 

 huge rock supported by other rocks over shallow water I observed the 

 small form and Asplenium parvulam growing in abundance and with 

 every frond pointing straight downward. It seemed odd that they 

 were so well suited with such an unnatural situation. 



Vittaria Imeata is a fern which normally grows straight downward, 

 but this is evidently the result of its extreme slenderness. It grows 

 on trees, especially in the old leaf axils or "boots" of palmettos, and 

 resembles tufts of some weak grass, but the mature fronds are thicker 

 and darker than any grass. Wherever Vittaria grows one may expect 

 to find the large and showy Polypodium anreum, which is one of the 

 most striking objects to be seen in i)almetto hammocks. Residents call 

 it "rabbit's foot fern," on account of its pretty root-stocks, which look 

 not unKke the soft feet of some yellow-furred animal. 



Two other epiphytic ferns which I discovered on Old Rhodes Key 

 and the eastern end of Key Largo are Taenitis lanceolata and Polypo- 

 dium Sivartzii. The latter reminds one of a vine, the root-stocks wind- 

 ing around the stems of bushes and saplings and sending out small 

 lanceolate fronds at frequent intervals. Ojthioglossiim palmatum is also 

 epiphytic. Nephrolepis excdtata grows not only on trees, but equally 

 well on the ground. Sometimes it gives a most beautiful appearance 

 to palmettos, its long, drooping fronds forming an elegant circle of leaf- 

 age just below that which belongs to the tree. Though preferring 

 shade, I have seen this fern growing in great abundance in clearings 

 fully exposed to the sun. It is a most troublesome fern to press, not 

 only on account of the elasticity of the stipes and long, wiry roots, but 

 because the pinnae drop off unless rapidly dried. Two other intracta- 

 ble ferns are Polypodium pectinatam and P. p)lumala. The stipes of the 

 latter, after having lain flat for many years, instantly resume their nat- 

 ural curvature on the removal of pressure. 



There are three ferns of which satisfactory specimens cannot be 

 made because of their great size. These are Pteris aquilina caudafa, 

 Aarosticham aureum and Aspidium unitum glahram. The latter grows 

 small enough in some localities, but where it grows eight feet high and 

 eighteen inches wide the best specimen that can be made consists of 

 the end of a frond and a few of the lower pinnae. As to tlie Acrosti- 

 chum, the best that can be done is to provide a pair of sterile pinnae 

 and an end or section of a fertile frond. The under surface is entirelv 



