20 HUMPHREY 



on Stones and rocks beside streams. It is not common in Cali- 

 fornia and was first collected by Professor Underwood at Fel- 

 ton, Santa Cruz County, in 1888. In July, 1906, it was found 

 in fruiting condition by the author on a trip up San Jose Cafion 

 in the Santa Lucia Mountains in Monterey County. So far as 

 is known, plants bearing receptacles had not been found in Cali- 

 fornia prior to the above named date, though fruiting plants 

 have been collected by C. V. Piper near Seattle, Wash. Con- 

 ditions during the rainy season there and in the parts of Cali- 

 fornia where Fcgatella thrives are similar. The dry season near 

 Puget Sound is occasionally interrupted by summer showers 

 which may in combination with other factors influence the 

 development of fruiting organs. 



Fegatclla may be found in many of our near-by canons ; in 

 fact, it has been observed to occur along the banks of creeks 

 well down upon the plain of the Santa Clara valley, but almost 

 always it will be found in particularly well watered and densely 

 shaded localities, a combination of conditions very essential to 

 the normal development of the plant in this region of long, dry 

 summers. 



Antheridial plants bearing receptacles have been collected 

 from several localities, though these plants are by no means 

 common. Normally, they are of such vigorous, robust habit as 

 to spread over a considerable area by mere vegetative growth, 

 and it is not uncommon to find several square feet entirely cov- 

 ered by Fegatella to the exclusion of everything else. 



On finding female plants in fertile condition a field study was 

 made relative to their habitat, and conditions affecting growth 

 and development of fruiting organs. San Jose Canon is a deep, 

 narrow gorge, the floor of which is well watered by a never- 

 failing stream. The north wall of the canon consists very 

 largely of precipitous rock ledges that in many places come 

 abruptly to the stream's edge and are only sparsely clothed with 

 Artemcsia, Adenostoma and a few other plants of xerophytic 

 habit. The south wall rises less abruptly into hills averag- 

 ing seven to eight hundred feet in height. These have a 

 covering of rich humus and the vegetation at the base along 

 the creek and well up on the south slope consists of Sequoia 



