CIIEILANTllES VESTITA. IIAIRV LIP-FERN. 



99 



we thus have an ilhistration of a rule in botanical nomenclature, 

 that when a botanist discovers that a plant belongs to a different 

 genus from the one in which it has been placed, and has the right 

 to make a new name for it if it be a new genus, the adjective or 

 specific name belongs of right to him also. 



For a long time the Hairy Lip-fern was the only known species 

 of our country, but of late years several others have been dis- 

 covered, both in the eastern and western portions of the United 

 States. 



This fern is very variable in its growth in different locations, 

 and the collector may often be inclined to look on his collections 

 as new species. In Mr. Williamson's "Ferns of Kentucky" is a 

 cut of the prevailing form in that State which shows a much more 

 elongated and narrower frond than ours. On the Pacific coast 

 some are found with a close relation to ours, but Professor l^aton 

 decides these to be specifically distinct. In the sixth volume of 

 the "Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club" he shows particu- 

 larly how the C. CoopcrcE of California differs from our present 

 species in the hairs being tipped with a glandular enlargement. 

 It would be well for those who may have the opportunity of 

 noticing the species described here to observe whether among 

 the variations to which it is known to be subjected there is in 

 any localities a tendency towards this peculiarity. Mr. William- 

 son in his "Ferns of Kentucky" notes that the hairs in our spe- 

 cies are flattened as seen under a microscope, a form of hair 

 not often found in plants. 



As already stated. Ferns have a wide geographical range, some 

 extending to the extreme north, and others favoring the tropics; 

 but distinct classes incline to have their own separate centres, 

 and in this relation the species of the genus CJieilanthcs seem to 

 be departures from a southern rather than a northern home. 

 The Hairy Lip-fern, now illustrated, is the most northern of all 

 that grow along the Adantic sea-board states. Professor 

 Gray says in his "Manual," that it is found in the clefts of 

 rocks on New York island, where it was found by ]\Ir. \\\ 



