112 rHP:AMERICAX BOTANIST 



such kaves as those of the English ivy are partly deterniined 

 i)y the advantage of interlocking to use all the space. 



Flowers are extremely heliotropic. They turn their 

 faces directiv towards the light that they nia}' receive all the 

 rays of the sun. Some flowers follow the sun through the 

 (hiv, although the adjustment is only moderately effective. 

 Although there is no chlorophyl process active in the flower, 

 yet it hecomes evident that if it is to he attractive to insects, 

 the function of conspicuousness requires that the corolla stand 

 out where the light strikes it most' fully. As to fruits, tiie}- 

 are indifferent to light, which may he due to their weight. 

 However, most fruits are on the ends of the hranches where 

 they receive the most light, and it is probable that the amount 

 of sunlight affects the fineness of the fruit as regards size, 

 flavor and beauty. 



ASPIDIUM LASERPETIIFOLIUM IN 

 PENNSYLVANIA 



By James Grimshavv Scott 



EV^ER since the discoverv of Asplciuiini cbenoidcs, R. \\. 

 Scott in the Schuylkill valley, Pennsylvania, the botanical 

 denizens of the States have been on the lookout f(jr a new speci- 

 men of fern that might perchance eclipse it in importance and 

 perpetuate their names in botanical annals. 



Recently, Charles H. Petti ford, gardener for W. S. Pil- 

 ling has found growing in the enchanted wild garden on the 

 Pilling premises in Germantown, iui exotic fern that seems 

 to have become thorr)ughly Americanized in the happy en- 



