82 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



Open spacers amongst the Nelumbium were covered with the floating leaves ot 

 NyniphiP b odorata, and an occasional flower of Jsfii.phav adoena and of Drumma peltatn 

 in fruit. Along the shore near by, stood up ranks of Pontederui cordnta with its spikes 

 of lovely blue. Scanning narr()wly the leaf-carpet on the water, as we slowly passed 

 across, two plants, new to New Jersey and not known to grow so far to the southeast, 

 revealed- themselves, peeping just far enough above tlie water to expand their flower 

 buds into bloom. Nasturtium lacustre and Bideiu Beekii. I need hardly tell you that 

 these treasures were booked. Nearly the whole coast line is rocky and alirupt. Only 

 at one point is there a low marsh of considerable extent, overflowed at times, and cov- 

 ered with bushes and tussocks of grasses and carices, with black mud between. Not a 

 trace of Sphaginnii was discovered. Here grew Raramciilus nitUt/fdtis, M/'kauia .scinidens, 

 Nexd'ii miicilldta, Rumex Brifa/uu'nis and Cnrex comosa. Around the shelving margin 

 of u rocky promontory, where an abundance of Scirjms validun lined the water's edge, 

 we struck upon dense masses of Eleocluiriti (ivjidrnnguhita, its square culms, rising from 

 the sluiUows two feet above the surface, tijiped with yellow spikes, suggesting an an- 

 cient army with its forest of spears. This was an excellent And. There too were gath 

 ered Cladium inarixroidex and Erioraidon scptangulare. Two Potamogetons are verj- 

 plentiful and beautiful to look down upon as they flourish in the pure, clear water, 

 Potiiinofieton Eobbinsii, fern like in ajipearance, and P.mnpUfolius with its broad, curl- 

 ed leaves. No sign of flower or fruit could lie found on either. Other plants noted by 

 us are Ilieraciwa C'dn/idense, T'a.vus bamitft, var. Guiutdensix, Suiinirus cernuiifi and Pgl- 

 tandra Virginiea. Of course the few brief hours of one summer day, and the hurried 

 exploration of a few spots could not assure us that Ave had seen all that was worth see- 

 ing in, upon and around the, charming Smartswood Lake. About the middle of the 

 afternoon we turned our faces towards home and reached Easton at 7 P. M., well satis- 

 fled with our floral gains, with the enjoyment ot travel and scenery and glad to have 

 discovered another place worth visiting for plants or pleasure within easy reach."' 



Fekns in South Florida. — As In colder so in this warmer climate ferns luxuriate 

 ' best in moist, shady places, but instead of the secluded nooks and sloping banks of 

 musical rivulets we meet them generally in low rich hummocks of dense woody 

 growth, and where if water is seen, appears in still, placid ponds or ciuiet, slow, snail- 

 like moving streams. With tlie exception of Anfi/inin ((diiiiit/f(din,'Swz., Pteris Jongi- 

 folid, L., and Ophtoglossuui, bn.lhosuni,, Michx., and 0. /nidiranh', all others attain the 

 greatest perfection in these vegetable jungles. 



Ai'rostirhtim ait.rcum, L., the tallest of Southern ferns is invariably associated with 

 brackish water. It is of common occurrence on the l)orders of marshes, bayous, creeks 

 and rivers to the head of tide water. Although frecjuent along the mainland from 

 Timipa and Biscayne bays south, is rarely seen on the keys. To a passing observation 

 there seemed little or no disposition to sport or variation. It is quite diflicult to dry, 

 p.trting with its moisture reluctantly and readily imbibing again upon exposure to a 

 Immid atmosphere, a character possibly due to a deposition of chlorides in its cellular 

 structure like otlu'r saline plants. Sometimes on boggy flats subject to daily inunda- 

 tions of the tul', th-re appc^ars a sriries of low hillocks closely grouped, on each of 

 which grow about -lAi stalks of 6-8 fronds each. The loose soil of the interspaces 

 having been washed out by the recessions of the tide. These hillocks are a mass of 

 rhizomes of this fern which vary in size from one or two to six inches in length and 

 two inches in width, with numerous lateral spongy roots a foot in length with the thick 

 ness of a goose-quill. There appears in these rhizomes one or several buds of an adven- 

 titious character, wliicli tlevelop into lateral stalks whose rhizomes ultimately separate 

 from the parent one. 



Poh/podiuin Plumiifd, II. B. K. First detected by Dr. Leaveinvorlli at Tampa, more 

 recently by Miss Dickens at New Snu'rna, and iu>w at Manatee, In this locality it is 



