THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 25 



scarlet berries which are edible and sour, yet there is a form 

 that has bright amber-yellow berries which are only slightly 

 acid. There is no apparent difference between the shrubs that 

 bear the scarlet berries and those that bear the amber yellow 

 ones. The latter form is reported to be abundant in South 

 Dakota between the Missouri river and the Black Hills. Dr. 

 C. E. Bessey reported that this form is found in Northern 

 Nebraska. I have found and eaten the amber-yellow berry in 

 central Nebraska near North Loup.— L. F. Sallcc, Plats- 

 mo nth, Nebr. 



The Japanese Lady Fern. — In the temperate regions at 

 least, cultivated ferns seldom run wild. There are instances in 

 the United States of such occurrences, however. The long 

 leaved bracken (Ptcris longifolia) grows so luxuriantly upon 

 the old tombs in the New Orleans cemeteries that cart-loads of 

 it have to be removed annually. In the same situations, and 

 on old walls, elsewhere, the saw-leaved bracken {Ptcris scr- 

 rulata) finds a home and the Japanese climbing fern (Lygo- 

 d'uim Japonicum) has been reported as an escape from cultiva- 

 tion in Georgia. Fine plants of Ncphrodium patens or N . molle 

 used to grow on the walls of the cut through which the New 

 York Central Railroad reached its station at 49th street in 

 New York. The only instance in the northern States where 

 an exotic fern has established itself and showed a tendency to 

 conquer more territory seems to be that of the Japanese lady 

 fern (Athyrium Nipponicum). This interesting relative of 

 our common lady fern (Athyrium filix-fo'cmina) has been 

 found wild in both New York and Connecticut. In both local- 

 ities it is known to be an escape. In New York it is known to 

 have gotten its start from some plants thrown out of a green- 

 house which, instead of dying as exotic plants are expected to 



