46 Benedict : New hybrids in Dryopteris 



pinnae oblong and sessile above, to deltoid and stipitate below 

 (lowest pinnae 7-10 cm. long by 4-6.5 cm. broad), mostly deeply 

 pinnatifid half way to the midveins or more except in upper fourth 

 of the lamina, nearly pinnate below but with winged midveins ; 

 pinnulae oblong to oblong-lanceolate, straight or slightly falcate, 

 somewhat acuminate, up to 4 cm. long by 1.6 cm. broad, entire, 

 spinulose-dentate or pinnatifid (half way to midveins on basal 

 pinnae), bases unconstricted above (upper third of lamina), to 

 deeply constricted below (nearly to the midvein in basal pinnae), 

 the lobes and teeth mostly inflexed : sori rather scant, midway be- 

 tween the margins and the midveins; indusia thin, glabrous : juvenile 

 fronds low-spreading, the laminae oblong, about half as broad as 

 long. 



Type in the Underwood Fern Herbarium, New York Botanical 

 Garden : Benedict 68^ from Cornwall, Conn., July, 1907, Collected 

 also by E. Brainerd at Middlebury, Vt., June, 1879, and July, 

 1908 ; by E. J. Winslow at Barton Landing, Vt., Aug. 16, 1908 ; 

 and by Ph. Dowell jp-PiS" (in part), at Suffern, N. Y., July 23, 1905. 



As might be expected, this fern resembles D, Clintoniana x 

 intcnncdia rather closely, but its relationship to D. spinulosa is 

 shown not only in the glabrous indusia but also in the general 

 habit and cutting of the fronds. From D. cristata x spinulosa^ it 

 differs usually in size and shape of the fronds, but even more 

 decidedly in the amount of cutting. 



Dr. Ezra Brainerd's early collection of this hybrid is of espe- 

 cial interest in view of the fact that as a rule the earlier collectors 

 apparently paid little attention to these plants and either overlooked 

 them or were satisfied to refer them to some previously described 

 species. Fern hybrids had been recognized in Europe as early as 

 the *5o's, but in America little was done with them until near the 

 close of the century. It is to be noted here that two specimens 

 of what we now know to be a hybrid between Dryoptais cristata 

 and Z>. marginalis were identified by the dean of American fern 

 study, Professor Daniel C. Eaton, as his Aspidiiim cristatuui van 

 Clintouianiim, as can be seen in his herbarium today. The origi- 

 nal collection of Judge Clinton is not represented in the Eaton 

 herbarium but according to the late G. E. Davenport in a letter to 

 Miss Margaret Slosson, it is represented in the Museum of Natural 

 Science at Springfield, Massachusetts^ As a small photograph of 

 this Springfield material shows it to be somewhat different from 



