67 
ville and the Tennessee Academy of Science. Cooperation with 
Dr. H. M. Jennison, botanist for the Great Smoky Mountains 
National Park, is unfortunately over; the sad news of his sudden 
death was received in the early days of 1940, and the South loses 
in him one of its most inspiring leaders in natural history. 
Part of the month of July and the month of August were spent 
in the vicinity of Nashville, where collections were made in the 
rugged areas between Nashville and the Tennessee River. 
GENETICS 
Experimental Variation in Nephrole pis 
By Rarpw C. BENEDICT 
In the field of plant and animal variation, the fern genus Nephro- 
lepis is conspicuous as an example of rapid and extensive evolution 
of new types for which exact observational data are available. 
Noted first about forty years ago in the greenhouses of commercial 
growers, hundreds of horticultural varieties came into being through 
a period of about twenty years both in this country and in Europe. 
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s study of these variations was 
begun toward the end of the period of the greatest horticultural 
interest in these plants. During the prosecution of research over 
four hundred accessions were brought to the Botanic Garden for 
cultural study from various parts of this country and from Europe, 
and numerous visits were made to florist establishments in this 
country with the aid of grants from the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science. 
As a result of these studies, a number of research papers were 
published, which were issued as Brooklyn Botanic Garden Contri- 
butions, and other papers were published in connection with the 
horticultural journals. 
In the second phase of this study of Nephrolepis variation, a 
large number of new types were obtained in connection with the 
Botanic Garden cultural work. The study of these formed the 
basis of further research reports. When these studies were going 
on, from time to time, requests came in for representative collec- 
tions. These forms were for college teaching purposes. Similar 
use has been made in connection with high school biology here in 
New York City. 
