214 BENEDICT: NEW VARIETIES OF NEPHROLEPIS 
variety it is necessary to rely almost wholly on the statement of the 
florist who produced it. With every desire for accuracy, the 
grower may easily be mistaken with respect to the relationship of 
any given form, even if it has been under his eye since its first ap- 
pearance. Plants of various forms are often grown together in 
stock beds, and the stolons may spread two or three feet in all 
directions with consequent mixing of the runners. When a form 
is discovered by one florist and sold for development and intro- 
duction to another, there is still greater chance for inaccuracy. 
In general, however, there is every reason for believing that 
the statements which follow regarding the origin and relationship 
of the varieties are in the main accurate. Many of them, nearly 
all, in fact, are established beyond the possibility of any reason- 
able doubt. A few are definitely indicated as open to possible 
question. 
It is a pleasure to acknowledge indebtedness to the numerous 
florists who have contributed to the living collections which have 
been built up almost exclusively by their gifts of plants. A nearly 
complete list of the contributing florists is given at the end of this 
paper in connection with an index of the varieties. To Mr. W. R. 
Maxon, of the United States National Museum, my thanks are 
due for valuable information regarding his collections and observa- 
tions of these ferns in the tropics. For the opportunities at the 
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, without which complete data could 
not have been accumulated, I am glad to make grateful acknowl- 
edgment to Dr. C. Stuart Gager, the director. To Dr. O. E. White 
of the same institution I am indebted for a reading of my manu- 
script and a number of suggestions. Finally the study has been 
aided by a grant of one hundred dollars from the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science, made at the Columbus 
meeting, which will be applied to the expenses incident to the visits 
to florists. Only a small part of this has so far been used, most 
of the visits to date having been made at private expense. 
