Underwood: American ferns 195 



Curtiss, whose botanical explorations in Florida have added so 

 much to our knowledge. The species often grows in company 



* 



with Asplenium verecundum Chapm., and we have collected the two 

 growing together at three distinct localities. All the stations men- 

 tioned are within a circle whose radius is only twenty-five miles. 

 This species is readily distinguished from Asplenium verecun- 

 dum by its shape, the lower pinnae not being reduced as in that 

 species, by its larger size, coarser texture, and numerous other 

 characters. It is scarcely necessary to add that the two plants 

 have long posed under the names Asplenium myriophyllum or A. 

 rhizophyllum either as species or varieties. A. ntyriophyllum is an 

 entirely distinct species described originally from Jamaica. A. 

 rhizophyllum (Thunb.) Kunze came originally from Dominica, and 

 is a plant which roots from a prolonged apex as illustrated by 

 Smith (PL Ic.Tned. 2 : pL 50). The name, moreover, is preoccu- 

 pied by Asplenium rhizophyllum L. 



Asplenium biscaynianum (D. C. Eaton) A. A. Eaton, Fern. Bull. 



12 : 45. 1904. 



?phj 



C. Eaton, Bull. 



Torrey Club 14 : 97.//. 68. 1887. (Type from Biscayne Bay, 

 Ho I den.) 



Southern Florida. Collected at Biscayne Bay in 1887 by 

 Isaac Holden, in 1888 by R. M. Monroe, in 1903 by A. A. Eaton, 

 and in 1904 by E. G. Britton. Specimens of all these collections 

 are represented in the herbaria at the New York Botanical Garden. 

 There is a suspicion that this species may prove a hybrid of Asple- 

 nium dentatum L. and A. verecundum Chapm., both of which grow 

 in its immediate vicinity. We agree with Mr. A. A. Eaton in 

 recognizing this as a distinct species, nor should we differ did we 

 know the above suspicion of hybridity to represent the truth of 

 the matter. Species in taxonomy are the units of classification 

 and their origin from others by variation, by hybridity, by muta- 

 tion, or by any other process should have nothing to do with the 

 simple taxonomic problem, while of the very highest interest in 

 the biological history of the species. 



Asplenium muticum Gilbert, Amer. Bot. 4: 86. 1903. (Type 



from Bermuda.) 



Central Florida ; also found in the Bermudas, whence it was 



described by Mr. Gilbert. 



