LIBRARY 

 NEW YORK 

 BOTANICAL 



GARDEN 



THE /l/5(yERlCp BOTpi^T. 



Vol. V. BINGHAiMTON. N. Y., AUGUST, 1903. No. 2. 



FERN-HUNTING IN LITTLE FALLS, N. Y. 



BY MRS. H. A. DeCOSTER. 



IT seems rather strange, now, as I look back, that my 

 interest in ferns was first aroused by a curious-looking 

 plant which I did not know was a fern at the time, but 

 which had, on the underside of its leaves, heavy brown 

 lines of what I had alwaj'S heard called "fern-seed." Of 

 course I had seen and known ferns, or thought I knew 

 them, for j-ears. Their delicate beautj^ meeting me "when 

 e'er I took my walks abroad" had been part of the pleas- 

 ure of my woods rambles ; but the depth of mj'- ignorance 

 will be apparent when I admit that I divided them all into 

 three classes : brakes — ornamental and often quite pictur- 

 esque in autumn, but coarse, and not desirable for carry- 

 ing home; maiden-hair — dainty and beautiful always 

 whether in the woods or in the house ; and ferns. Under 

 this last head was included everything else fern-like that I 

 found in woods, swamps or meadows. 



Every autumn I filled several plant jars and a dish for 

 the dining-room with native ferns, learning by the slow 

 but sure method of experience that certain ones, most 

 feathery and attractive in October, were sure to be gone 

 before Christmas; while others, less dainty in appearance, 

 kept their freshn^s almost unchanged until spring. 



Then, one day in late February, I took a walk through 

 the w^oods on the North Hill and seeing several clumps of 

 bright green rubbery leaves I went back the next day to 

 dig up a few^ to replace such of mine as had succumbed to 

 the combined influences of coal gas and furnace heat. It 

 was w^hile looking for these ferns that I made a discovery. 

 Several huge rocks were almost completely hidden under 



