•] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



87 



if by such handling as has been described, nature 

 can be made to swerve from the ordinary course by 

 the invasion of her private compartments while per- 

 forming special work ; and if Mr. C. has been suc- 

 cessful in getting in advance of the normal process 

 of fertilization in his experiments, nothing remains 

 for us but to accept his conclusions, however op- 

 posed they may be to preconceived opinions. 



THE HABITATS OF PLANTS. 

 BV W. F. BASSETT, HAMiMONTON, N. J. 



The adaptation of plants to different climates is 

 an interesting subject for observation, and some 

 curious facts are brought to light in botanizing in 

 different sections. 



Some plants seem to do equally well in similar 

 soils without much regard to temperature or 

 humidity. Gerardia quercifolia and pedicularis and 

 Lupinus perennis are examples of this class, grow- 

 ing in light soils both North and South. On the 

 other hand, Trientalis Americana and Medeola 

 Virginica, which are common in rich woodlands 

 in Massachusetts, are only found in low peaty 

 lands here in New Jersey, and Aspidium thely- 

 pteris and Onoclea sensibilis, found only in swamps 

 here, grow everywhere by the roadside and in pas- 

 ture there, and still more notably, .Arls ema triphyl- 

 lum, which at the North is freely distributed in 

 rich woodlands everywhere and sometimes remains 

 in grass fields, is only found in the wettest swamps 

 here, growing directly out of the water. But per- 

 haps the most singular fact connected with this 

 plant is that the acrid taste, which is not only char- 

 acteristic at the North, but so decided that no one 

 who ever tasted will forget it, is absent in our spe- 

 cimens, and the bulbs can be eaten with impunity. 



Curiously enough, we find Epiga;a repens in 

 great abundance near the top of Hoosac Mountain, 

 growing in cold, damp soil, and exposed to the 

 raking west winds, while here it is equally abundant 

 in our dry, sandy, half-open woodlands, more or 

 less exposed to the scorching summer sunshine of 

 such localities; Cypripedium acaulc, also — which 

 is abundant everywhere here, growing on our 

 lightest soils. At the North we only found it in 

 damp forests where beech and spruce formed a 

 considerable portion of the timber. We should 

 hardly expect to find plants peculiar to rich wood- 

 lands in the North growing on the sea beach here, 

 but there is a place in Atlantic City called Hill's 

 Creek, where we find several of them apparently 

 at home. 



In this place the Myricas and other shrubs have 



so stopped the drift as to form a line of low sand- 

 hills around a few acres of half-marshy land, only 

 leaving an open side not much exposed to wind, 

 and with a narrow belt or border gently sloping 

 from the sand-hills to the marsh, sheltered from the 

 hot sun by a low and spreading growth of red 

 cedars, holly, &c., and here in the mixture of sand 

 and leaf mould we find Geranium Robertianum, 

 Trientalis Americana and Mitchella repens in 

 abundance, and a few plants of Aquilegia Can- 

 adensis, which we have never seen elsewhere on 

 the yellow drift or sand barrens. We also find 

 Asplenium ebeneumand Arenaria lateriflora, which 

 is, according to Gray, a New England plant. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



The Forking of Ferns. — Botanical periodicals 

 often have notes from correspondents about the 

 forking of fronds in ferns, a feature not found in 

 the normal condition. There are very few species 

 which do not at some time or another give illustra- 

 tions of their power to fork ; but so far as we know, 

 no attempt has been made to show under what 

 morphological law these departures are brought 

 about. Horticulturists, however, have rendered 

 botanical science great service by showing that 

 these singular variations in ferns can be repro- 

 duced by spores. 



A number of crested or divided forms of ferns 

 are under culture, and one at least, Nephrodium 

 molle, gives its crested form in great numbers 

 from spores. It is not so very long ago that peo- 

 ple were d'scussing how to distinguish a species 

 from a mere variety, and the power of reproduc- 

 tion from seed or spores would then have been de- 

 nied to a mere variation. Now we find that every 

 variation comes under the laws of heredity, and 

 the fact has been of great value to those who be- 

 lieve that species have been evolved from some 

 prior form. A variety is in fact but an incipient 

 species. 



Aside from the botanical interest of these depart- 

 ures from the normal condition, many of them are 

 of great beauty and horticultural value. Here is 

 a crested form of Lastrea Richardii, introduced by 

 Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, near London, who 

 give the following account of it : 



" A beautiful crested Fern for warm conservatory 

 and intermediate house, sent to us by Charles 

 Moore, Esq., of the Botanic Garden, Sydney, N. 

 S. W. 



" Mr. Thomas Moore, the eminent authority on 



