BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 179 



diaii river country. Possibly this very habit of drying up may be the 

 reason why it is not often seen. The fronds are from 2 to 15 inches 

 long, and 1 to 1^ broad. 



Pohjpodium aureum, L. Tliis fern is more common than P. Plumula 

 or P. pectinatum, growing on the trunks of Cabbage Palmetto trees. 

 It is found near St. Augustine, and on the banks of the St. Johns, 

 Halifax and Indian rivers. It is scarce about St. A. because these 

 tires in the woods, so terrible to a botanist, burn oft" everything grow- 

 ing on the trunks of trees, but do not necessarily destroy the trees. 

 The country people are in the habit of setting the pine barrens on 

 tire so that the fresh green grass may spring up for pasturage. This 

 is nice for the cattle, but miserable for the plants. The fern fruits at 

 all sizes ; some of my specimens are but 6 inches long, some are from 

 •^>—i feet. The handsome brown chaffy root-stock is very thick, and 

 often shows the scars from which the old fronds have fallen. From 

 this I judge that the stipe is articulated with the root-stock. This is 

 a very beautiful majestic fern, and though ^'associated always with 

 the Cabbage Palmetto" when wild, it bears very well to be planted 

 in the fernery or flower-pot. It seems to be a very slow grower; some 

 root-stocks planted in this way were three or four months in putting 

 out their first leaves, but afterwards grew much faster. I was much 

 interested last December while at Daytona, in collecting the different 

 forms and gradations of the P. aureum from the delicate simple frond 

 up through the once or twice lobed shapes, till at last the perfect 

 frond appeared. Sometimes these grew on separate root-stocks, 

 sometimes all upon one. These first forms are much more delicate 

 and thinner than the perfect ones. Some mature fronds showed very 

 emarginate tips of the pinnas, whereas they are usually very acute. 

 Occasionally a lower pinna is plainly one or two lobed, and some- 

 times specimens show double rows of fruit-dots. 



Polypodium PhylUtidk, L. I never found this fern north of the In- 

 dian river, and saw but little of it there. It grew on old decayed logs 

 in dee[) rich woods. The fronds often show a tendency to develop 

 one or two lobes, or to have wavy outlines. A few weeks ago a let- 

 ter from Mr. F. A. White, who lives on the Indian river, called my 

 attention to the fact that on old fronds of Plu/llitldls new fruit-dots 

 were appearing after the old ones had dropj)ed off. This led to an 

 examination of my own living plants, and I found several fronds had 

 the rows of little round dots showing where last season's sori had 

 been, and were now putting on fresh white dots directly over the old 

 ones! This was a fern practice with which I was entirely unacquaint- 



