BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 1 99 



and winning manners, of scholarly habits and wide reading, of an 

 inquiring and original turn of mind, the fruitfulness of which was 

 subdued by chronic invalidism. When he went to Paris he took 

 with him his herbarium, which for that time was unusually rich 

 in plants of Lower Georgia and Florida; and we remember his re- 

 mark that his botanical acquaintances there made very free use of 

 his permission to help themselves to the duplicates. There is rea- 

 son to think, accordingly, that the remains of it which went to 

 the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences will not throw all 

 the light which might be expected upon the species of plants 

 Avhich were described in his published papers. 



His old friends, Torrey and Wm. Cooper, named in his honor 

 the genus which, as it proved, Kafinesque had some years earlier 

 named Peltandra. And the opportunity was soon lost of com- 

 memorating his name in a plant of his own country: for Achille 

 Richard in Paris, in 1829, bestowed the name of Lecontia upon a 

 .genus of Madagascar Riibiaceoe, now of live speeies. Although the 

 name of John E. LeConte is best known to fame, it ought to be 

 recorded that his brother, Louis, was also a keen botanist and ex- 

 cellent observer. The writer of this notice never knew him per- 

 sonally, for all but the earlier years of his life were passed upon the 

 family plantation in Georgia. His name is mentioned in the per- 

 face as one of the contributors to Torrey & Gray's Flora of North 

 America; and be deserved well of science in another respect, for 

 he was the father of the two LeContes — President and Professor — 

 of the TJniversitv of California. — A. Gray. 



A New Walking-Fern, 



(plate III.) 



Although the variation of the common walking-fern (Camp* 

 tdsOrttS rhizophyllUs) is very considerable, all the forms show a more 

 or less auricled base. The auricles of the small forms are often so 

 broad as to be nearly confluent with the stipe. On the other hand, 

 I am informed by Mr. Davenport that in his herbarium are speci- 

 mens with the base of the blade simply obtuse, the auricles having 

 become quite obsolescent. But the latter is a rare occurrence, and 

 appears to be the extreme of variation in the direction of a narrow- 

 ed base. The interesting form of which an illustration is given 

 herewith, has the striking peculiarity of an acute base without 

 proper auricles. It was found and communicated by Mr. J. G. 

 Haupt in Muscatine County, Iowa. . It covered a few square yards, 

 and was seen in but the one spot. The common form grew a few 

 rods away, and by its luxuriance and large size gave prominence to 

 the new kind. 



The character of the base, together with some others, shows a 

 considerable divergence froni the typical form, and seems to indi- 



