BOTAMCAL GAZETTE. 2g6 



and considerably changed in appearance by growing in such uncom- 

 fortably cramped quarters. 



As none of these ferns, nor any others for that matter so far as I 

 know, grow anywhere near the Prison grounds naturally, their pres- 

 ence in such an unnatural situation is not easily accounted for, but it 

 is to be presumed that the spores were blown from a -distance by high 

 winds and lodged in the crevices where they subsequently found suf- 

 ficent moisture and shelter to favor their germinati'in. 



The territory immediately surrounding this portion of the Prison 

 wall at present (originally partly surrounded by water) is made of low 

 filled land partially covered with coarse plants, which I had no time to 

 examine, but conspicuous among which, and abundant, was Sciurio 

 viih^aris, and, judging from the number of burrs attached to my cloth- 

 ing when I came off the ground, Lappa officinalis. 



The ground still reiains much of its original dampness, and this, 

 together with the coiidensati(m of escaping steam from the manufac- 

 tory adjoining the wall within the Prison yard, assists the heavy gran- 

 ite wall in condensing and holding moisture enough to sustain quite a 

 vegetable colony, other plants besides ferns being found there. 



Some of the upper cracks had become sufficiently widened by the 

 crumbling away of the mortar to effectually hide and protect the spar- 

 rows that flew in and out above my head, and this may have led one 

 near by to suggest that the seeds of the ferns had probably been carried 

 there by the birds ! 



The ro"tstocks of A. Thclypteris and Dicksonia had receded to 

 quite a depth, while the crowns of the others were about even with 

 the wall. 



I brought away a few plants that 1 succeeded.with some difficulty, 

 in getting out of the cracks, dLwAwX^o Marchantia polyniorpha that was 

 growing with them, and these I have set out in a moist ravine where I 

 can watch their future development under more natural conditions. 



Mr. Perkins, who has botanized quite extensively about waste 

 grounds, and is familiar with all such places in this vicinity, writes me 

 that he saw one season a large fern clump growing on one of the 

 wharves in the Charlestown Navy Yard partly under the beams, and 

 mentions s me ice houses with ferns growing from the cracks between 

 the boards, but the latter are in close proximity to fronds whose ferns 

 abound naturall\ . — Geo. E Davenport. 



Some New Grasses.— Melica Hallh, n. sp., — Culms wiry, 

 erect, i^^ to 2 teet high. Leaves all involute, setaceous, scabrous; 

 the radical numerous, 5 to 12 inches long, those of the culm (about 

 two) I to i^/^ inches long, ligule obsolete. Panicle narrow, 2 to 3 

 inches long, the branches solitary or in pairs, the longest 1 1^ to 2 

 inches, the 3 to 5 s])il<elets borne above the middle. Spikelets 3 to 4 

 lines long, two-flowered with a distinct rudiment of a third; outer or 

 empty glumes membranaceous, equalling the flower, lanceolate, acute, 

 the upper a little the longer, midvein prominent, the lateral nerves 

 soon evanescent or wholly wanting ; flowering glumes and palets 

 chartaceous, finely scabrous, about etjual, the flowering glume 3-5- 



