52 PELL.«A ATROPURPUREA. DARK PURPLE ROCK-BRAKE. 



common on the seaboard. So far as we know, it has not been 

 found in New Jersey, nor further northeast than Vermont. 



The taxonomial history of our plant, or that which relates to 

 its classification, has been a very chequered one. Linnseus, as 

 we have seen, refers to it as Plcris atropiLVpurea, and this will be 

 found in use by the earlier of our modern botanists. In the ear- 

 lier editions of his " Manual " Dr. Gray has it an Allosorus, which 

 he abandons in the later ones ; while Thomas Moore, a noted 

 English authority on Ferns, says in "The Treasury of Botany" 

 that all those Pellaas which are not true Pteris "should be 

 referred to Platylomar After all it must be admitted that there 

 is very litde difference between some of the genera of Ferns. 

 For instance, some would make Pellcea atropurpiirea an Allosorus 

 because the leaves have a thick leathery texture, and because 

 the veins are not very apparent. But when the frond is held 

 against the light, the venation is distincdy seen, as in our Fig. 3. 

 As a fern for cultivation, it has not appeared often as a suc- 

 cess ; but this is chiefly owing to a want of care in growing it. 

 Though satisfied with harsh conditions in a state of nature. 

 It demands a little petting before it willingly enters the service 

 of man. Though Paxton says it was introduced to English cul- 

 ture in 1770, it still seems rare even in that land of good gar- 

 deners. A note in the volume of the "Gardener's Magazine" 

 for 1879 says: "This pretty fern is found from arctic America to 

 the Andes, where it grows at the height of from 8,000 to 10,000 

 feet. It is very rare in the country, and these notes were made 

 from specimens in the Royal Gardens at Kew, where the plant 

 does well. It should be placed in a well-drained position in the 

 limestone, and a plendful portion of sand and limestone must be 

 added to the peat in which it is planted." 



Our drawing was made from a specimen grown by Mr. Jack- 

 son Dawson, the fruiting portion, Fig. 3, being from our own 

 [Virginia specimens. 



Explanations of the Plate.— i. Plant with young growth. 2. Barren frond from last year. 

 3. Portion of a fertile frond, showing the sporangia with their indusium along the edge. 



