18S3.] 



605 



[Davenport. 



Some Comparative Tables slio^ring the Distribution of Ferns in the United 

 States of North America. By George E. Davenport. 



(^Bead before the American Philosophical Society, February 2, 1SS3.) 



Tlie following tables hare been prepared for a Text Book and ^Manual 

 of the Ferns of North America (north of Mexico), but are believed to be of 

 sufficient interest to justify publication in advance. 



The attention of botanists is called to them, and their cooperation solicited 

 in enabling the writer to render them more complete and accurate for final 

 jjublication. 



These tables are necessarily incomplete in their present form, no reliable 

 data for all of the States and Territories being readily accessible. The num- 

 ber of species credited to many of the States might have been increased by 

 assuming the presence of certain species from their well known geographical 

 range, but it was thought best to give only those which could be verified, 

 or had been vouched for by good authority. 



Where a doubt exists in regard to the presence of a species said to have 

 been collected in any State, and such doubt is not sufficient to justify exclu- 

 sion, the species is credited with a query to indicate the uncertainty of its 

 verification. 



All varieties are excluded except where a variety stands as the sole repre- 

 sentative of the species itself. 



My thanks are due to JohnH. Redfield, Dr. George Engelmann, Professor 

 D. C. Eaton, J. Donnell Smith and Wm. Stout for many additions, and it 

 will further aid me greatly if others will send to me accurate lists of the 

 species and varieties known to grow naturally in their respective States. 



The list of ferns as given below may undei'go some changes before final 

 publication, the numbers correspond to those given in the tables : 



