266 On the Habitat of the Schizcea pusilla. 



Note on the Habitat of the Schizjea pusilla of Pursh. By 

 William Cooper. Read July 16, 1827. 



The Schizaea pusilla was first discovered about the year 

 1807, by a party of botanists, of whom Pursh was one, 

 during an excursion to the Pine-barrens of New Jersey. A 

 specimen having been communicated to Muhlenberg, he in- 

 serted it in his catalogue under the specific name of tortuosa, 

 but no description of it was given before Pursh published his 

 Flora. After Pursh, several years elapsed, during which it 

 was not again seen by any botanist, and it remained an ob- 

 scure species, until during a visit which I made to Quaker- 

 bridge in the month of June IS 18, in company with Dr. Tor- 

 rey, we had the good fortune to meet with it in abundance. 

 Since that time it has been repeatedly gathered in the same 

 locality by different botanists. 



It is not generally known, however, that this singular fern 

 has been discovered within a few years, at two of the most re- 

 mote points on this continent; a fact which I have lately been 

 enabled to determine in the most satisfactory manner. 



In the Annates des Sciences Naturelles for February 1S25, 

 M. de la Pylaie announces his discovery of a species of 

 Schizaea in Newfoundland, mentioning that the same fern had 

 been found in the Falkland Islands, by M. Gaudichaud, bota- 

 nist to the expedition of Freycinet. The name proposed by 

 M. de la Pylaie for his plant, Jilifolia, induced me to suspect 

 that it might be identical with our Schizaa pusilla, that 

 having filiform leaves. This, through the assistance of my 

 excellent friend, M. Victor Jacquemont of Paris, I have as- 

 certained to be indeed the fact. That gentleman having, at 

 my request, compared the plants both of Newfoundland and 

 the Falkland Islands, with specimens from New Jersey which 

 I had sent him, assures me that they prove to be in all re- 

 spects absolutely alike. It appears, therefore, that this 



