THE PLANT WOELD 71 



covered -^-ith golden-riisset spores, and to such a depth as to render 

 them quite heavy ; and it is often difficult to find presentable specimens 

 of them on account of the habit which certain insects have of burrowing 

 among the spores. This plant differs as much from the popular ideal 

 of ferns as does the floating Cerafopteris or a mossj^ Hymenojjhyllum. 

 Even a student of ferns could hardly appreciate how stout and coarse 

 it is without seeing it in its native swamps. 



My first addition to the list of Florida ferns was Cheilanthes micro- 

 phylla. That was about tAventy-five years ago, and it was considered a 

 remarkable find, as that fern had never before been found in the United 

 States except on the border of Mexico. A few years ago I revisited the 

 original station, and the only one known to me, and found not a vestige 

 of the CheilantJies. It grew on one of three immense Indian shell 

 mounds, which rise out of the marshes near the mouth of the St. John's 

 River and which are known as the Sister Islands. Numerous subtrop- 

 ical plants used to flourish on the same mound, but nearly all of them 

 were killed when the orange groves were frozen. I believe some one 

 found the same fern on the opposite side of the river, on St. John's 

 bluff. This is now occupied largely by fortifications. 



Cheilanthes Alahameusis I found last summer a few miles south of 

 Chipley, which is about forty miles west of Chattahoochee. I had been 

 ha\dng a tedious ride when I came across this fern, but feeling doubtful 

 of its identit}- and pressed for time, I merely secured enough for study. 

 This was a mistake, which caused me much time and trouble. The 

 next morning I had the liveryman send me back to Cedar Grove, as the 

 locality is called, but with a different driver we failed to find the fern. 

 The liveryman generously assumed responsibility for the failure and 

 promised to send me again in the afternoon with my first driver. But 

 he could not be found until near sunset, and when at last we reached 

 the right spot there was little of daylight left. But with bright moon- 

 light sifting through the treetops and by careful searching on top of a 

 tower-like rock I think I succeeded in securing all the good plants, 

 leaving, however, plenty of roots for future growth. The fronds grow 

 larger here than in Alabama, attaining a maximum length of 18 inches. 



Pteris longifolia and Aneimia adiantifolia are ferns which I have 

 found only on the old coral rock of extreme southern Florida, on the 

 southeast shore of the mainland and on that peculiar group of keys 

 composed of Big Pine, Little Pine and No-name Keys. The locality 

 where I have collected Aneimia principally is a peculiar one, extending 

 south from Cutler on Biscayne Bay. The coral is less rugged here than 

 usual, but it is full of pits and perpendicular holes whose origin is hard 

 to account for. Some of the holes are no larger than stove pipes, and, 

 being more or less hidden by herbage, they are somewhat dangerous. 



