!34 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



Vitality in Fern8. — FoU/podium i/ic((num has been called the "ResiuTection 



Fern" on account of its wonderful vitality, but our common P. vulgure appears to be no 



less tenacious of life. In November, 1876, as an experiment^ I threw a plant of this 



latter species undtr a bench where it remained in a pex'fectly dry state, and subject to 



the warm atmosphere of a heated room, until late in April, 1877 — a period of more than 



five months. It had become so dry and shriveled that it did not seem possible for any 



life to exist, yet under the influence of frequent rains it soon began to start and is now 



growiu:' moderately. 



Just how long life may be retained under such conditions as those to which this 



plant was subjected would seem to me to be an interesting subject for inquiiy, and one 

 that might lead to useful results in the transportation ot certain plants. 



It may not be out of place in this connection to state that last sjiring I took from 

 some pressed herbarium specimens of Trichomancs PeterKii sent to me a short time pre- 

 viously by Mr. Peters — I do not know how long they had l)een collected, but i)resume 

 for a short time onl}' — a plant and placed it under a bell glass. In a very few days it 

 began to straighten up its tiny fronds and is now living and growing. — Geo. E. U.vvjiN- 

 PORT, Boston, Aug. 3, 1877. 



Adiantum capillus-veneris. — In a private letter Mr. Davenport makes the follow- 

 ing statement in reference to this fern: "It might be an interesting fact to stati' that.l 

 have succeeiled in cultivating this species from Utah in the open garden and carried my 

 plant safely through the long severe winter of 1870-7 without any other protection than 

 some loose brush thrown over it. The ]3lant was set out in ]\Iay, 1870, in some rock 

 work by the side of a little brook, and had an open southern exposure. It grew finely 

 all through the year, and proved itself hardy by surviving our last severe winter, and is 

 now a fine, comjiact, healthy plant." — J. M. C. 



Notes from South Western Virginia. — Mr. Howard 8hrlver has just visited 

 New River, a most interesting locality, and writes as follows: "I found Cedi-ouella in a 

 new spot at Carter's and Forney's (Allisonia C. H.). I also found at Carter's uliundance 

 of Pyrithirid olcifcra, but the blooms had nearly all fallen, leaving only one plant, with 

 one pear in an unripe state. The plants seemed nourishing enough, so that I was at a 

 loss to determine whether the failure to fruit resulted from the excessive drought, or 

 from late frosts, which cut garden plants badly as well as some wild ones, or from some 

 other cause. The tlowers came several at a time and regularly drop]jed, until many 

 stems were terminated by a single tlower at the time of my arrival. 



Halesia tetrapter a had gone out of bloom, but the trees had made plenty of fruit, 

 which was then about a quarter of its full size. Chionanthus Virgiuica was nearly out 

 of bloom. The shrubs were found in abundance all along the river. Ptclen tvifolkda 

 lined the river shores for several miles and was in full bloom. So was Cehistrns .tran- 

 dens. A plant much resembling Phaceliapurvijiora api)cared sparingly on the shore. 

 It does not answer satisfactorily to the above name and ma}' be a variety. JSedam terna- 

 tum abounded, but I saw not a single S. Necit, which abounds at Allisonia along with 

 8. Urnatinn. I found here for the second time Aspidiuiu Qoldinrmrn, Hook, and (Jys- 

 topteris fragili)*, Bernh., also Asplenium angustifolium, Mx. While sitting on the bank 

 of New River with Ftjrney, I desired him without moving to pass to me all the ferns 

 he could reach, which were as follows: Adimitiun pedittuin, AHpleniuin Trirhoiuanes, 

 Asplenium ebenevm, Aspidivm dcroatichoides, var. incdsuin, Cystopteris fragilis, Onoclea 

 sensibilis, Woodsin ohfvsa, Osmunda Claytoniana, and one or two others of which I am 

 not certain, perhaps, CystopteriH bulbifera. I also found elsewhere, Polypodiwn vnl- 

 gare, Pteris nquilina, PeXUvn atropurpuven , Asplen.ium Euta-inurnrut, Qu/qjlaxorun rhiz- 

 ophyllus, Phegoptevis hexagonoptera, Aspidium niurginale, Botrychitun Virgiriicum, 



