THE PLANT WORLD 133 



Briefer Articles. 



A NEW STATION FOR THE GRAY POLYPODY. 



Tlie discovery by Mr. W. P. Hay, of Washington, of the gray poly- 

 pody {Polypodium iwlypodioides), in considerable quantity at a station on 

 the Maryland bank of the Potomac near Great Falls, adds several hun- 

 dred miles to the northeastern range of this familiar little southern fern, 

 while the conditions under which it grows are of more than usual 

 biologic interest. 



Mr. Hay first observed the fern during the past winter, and noticing 

 how distinct it seemed from the common polypody, thrust a handful of 

 plants into the pocket of his hunting jacket, where they remained, 

 neglected and forgotten, until May SOtli of the present year. On the 

 latter date the jacket happened to be again called into service, and the 

 fern was produced, to the amazement of all the botanists who saw it. 

 The following day the writer was kindly conducted by Mr. Hay to the 

 scene of his discovery. 



The station Kes south of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, some dis- 

 tance below Great Falls. The country is rugged, with numerous cliffs 

 and boulders of the Archaean rock which covers this region, interspersed 

 with a somewhat dwarfed forest growth of deciduous trees. Along one 

 of the streams oveirflowing from the canal are found several masses of 

 rock which support dense carpets of the fern, its fronds dry and curled 

 from the effects of the scarcely shaded sunlight. Intermixed with these 

 patches of fern is a moss {Ch'immia sp.) and several lichens. Almost 

 invariably the polypod}^ occurs on the most exposed slopes and the 

 steepest summits of the rocks, and the extent of some of the patches 

 would indicate that it has always been at home. At the time of my 

 observation the fronds were dry and curled, but immersion for a few hours 

 in a pan of water wrought a surprising change in their appearance. The 

 old fronds expanded and became fresh and green, while the young ones 

 began to elongate and uncoil, showing the plant to be in perfect condition. 



The growth of the gray polypody on rocks in the more southerly 

 portions of its range is unusual. Its preference is for the trunks of trees 

 or fallen logs ; in fact, during my travels in the Gulf States, I have never 

 yet seen this fern on rocks. By a curious coincidence, the other species 

 of Polypodium {P. vulgai'e) which is almost universally a rock-loving 

 plant, has been found by Professor Ward not far from this very locality 



