POLYPODIUM FALCATUM. SICKLE-LEAVED TOLYPOD. I 95 



distinctness will be finally agreed upon. It will be seen from our 

 plate that it agrees with Polypodium Californiciim in the pellucid 

 veins which thicken as they terminate (Fig. 3, a). From Poly- 

 podiiun vidgare it differs in the thin, papery texture and glaucous 

 hue of the fronds, and the falcate form of the divisions in the 

 more vigorous specimens (Fig. 2). Beyond all this there is one 

 very important difference if Professor Eaton's account under 

 " P. giycyrhiza " be correct. As every fern collector knows, he 

 has not to wait 



"... till the light of spring 

 Comes from the sun, with zephyrs and with showers, 

 Waking the earth to beauty, and the woods 

 To music, and the atmosphere to blow, 

 Sweetly and calmly, with its breath of balm," 



as Percival would say, before he can collect perfect specimens of 

 Polypodkun vidgare for examination, for it is an evergreen, and 

 is even in best condition in the winter season .if the frosts are not 

 too severe and the place of growth too exposed ; but this species 

 Eaton says has annual fronds, and this from their thin, filmy 

 character is probably correct. That it is nearer to P. Califonuaini 

 than to P. vidgare we find also suggested by one of our own cor- 

 respondents, Dr. C. L. Andrews, of Santa Cruz, California, who, 

 under date of April i6th, 1878, says: ''Polypodium falcatum I 

 take to be a variety of our P. Californicwn [mtermediiwi), having 

 the habit of P. vidgare.'' Of this habit Mrs. Fanny E. Briggs 

 says in the Gaj^deners Monthly ior March, 1879, "it grows in 

 moss on trees and logs with Polypodium intei'medium, and is 

 known as ' Wild-Licorice.' " Lieutenant Kautz tells Professor 

 Eaton that it has " aerial roodets, having a sweet flavor like that 

 of licorice." In his " Ferns of North America," and wherein he 

 expresses his opinion that it is a distinct species, Professor Eaton 

 says he " has not seen the root stocks." 



Dr. Kellogg, in the original account in the " Proceedings of 

 the California Academy of Sciences," says: "It is highly 

 esteemed as a medicine, both among the natives and others, 

 thought to be antisyphilitic, also used in the preparation ol 



