132 THE PLANT WORLD. 



rather loose clay which becomes extremely sticky, upon moistening. 

 What a difference from the black leaf- moulds of the northern woods! 

 On the rocks and a rotted log or two below at the bottom of the pit are 

 several liverworts we have not seen elsewhere; and in the crevices of 

 the walls grow excellent plants of Anplenium parvulum. The Hart's- 

 tongues are much smaller than in Central New York; the soil can be 

 hardly so well suited to them. AVere it not for the unusually low 

 temperature of the cave, some 35 degrees lower than the outer atmos- 

 phere, I expect our northern fern would not be here at all. It seems 

 to be a most interesting case of local adaptation and isolation. 



Egress from the pit proves rather more troublesome than ingress. 

 The rope and pulley are again put in commission, but the pulley 

 snaps. It is not easy to climb sixty feet of half-Inch manila unless one 

 has had previous experience in that line; so that nothing remains for us 

 but to have the rope passed about a nearby tree and be hauled out like 

 so much coal, which indeed we somewhat resemble in our grime. I 

 must confess that I have experienced pleasanter sensations than the 

 tifteen minutes whirling which ensued, a long time, to be sure, for the 

 rope was new and full of kinks. But at last terra firma was reached 

 and the affair declared a great joke. Much of the difficulty could pro- 

 bably have been obviated, but even as it was we felt repaid, A similar 

 escapade will however be undertaken only for a rarer fern, 



U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. 



w 



SOME LOCAL COMMON NAMES OF PLANTS. 



By C. F. Saunders. 



HILE on a botanical trip this summer in northeastern Penn- 

 sylvania, I noted the following common names in use which 

 I do not find mentioned in the manuals: 

 Italian Daisy — Paint Brush, for Illeracium aurantiacimi L. ; 

 Most commonly it went by the name of the Devil's Paint Brush, — a 

 name already recorded which well embodies the popular feeling towards 

 the obnoxious plants. They spread both by seed and runners until the 

 ground in some places becomes a complete mat of the radical leaves. 



Devil's-gut, for Sjyergula arvensis L. ; another embodiment in 

 speech of the farmer's dislike towards a pestiferous weed. 



