-36- 



Chittenango Falls, the fern grows only upon the western side of the 

 gorge; and the two stations are otherwise very similar. Mrs. James 

 R. Parsons, one of the discovering part}', thus writes of its occur- 

 rence :* " The plants were * *growing in a partial open- 

 ing among the maples, basswoods and beeches on a steep slope 

 covered with fragments of limestone, some 30 or 40 feet from the 

 base of the cliff. We must have found anywhere from 20 to 30 

 plants within a radius of as many feet." The fact of its discovery 

 here, in a favorite botanizing field, may indicate a recent origin of 

 this particular station. It may have arisen from the Chittenango 

 station, which is less than three miles distant. 



In general, regarding its central New York distribution : It is 

 extremely likely that the fern has by the natural clearing of the 

 country been in some measure exterminated ; but it is a fact, nev- 

 ertheless, that it is only in the more rugged situations of the un- 

 cleared land that it usually grows. It stands rather as a remaining 

 type of boreal vegetation, persisting only in such places as are well 

 suited to it. It prefers rough, shaded tali in broken country, where 

 extreme drought can never affect it ; where it is subjected to a uni- 

 formly cool temperature, and protected also by considerable shade. 

 In such a situation the fern now thrives, and doubtless will so con- 

 tinue unless . rooted out by reckless collectors. It ought even to 

 become settled in many additional stations in the general locality. 



CANADIAN STATIONS. 



(a) The Owen Sound Locality. Owen Sound is a port on the 

 (Georgian Bay, the great eastern arm of Lake Huron. The town is 

 nearly on the lake level, the rise being perhaps fifty feet to the 

 mile ; while both east and west are cliffs Clinton on the west side, 

 Medina on the east which form the sides of the valley. The rock 

 is covered with soil of varying shallowness, and forested with 

 maple, spruce, hemlock, and birch. The country all about is very 

 rocky, and doubtless contains more stations than mentioned here. 



The first discovery of the fern at Owen Sound was by Prof. 

 William Hinks, of Toronto, in 1857. He found it growing plenti- 

 fully around the falls of a stream emptying into the Sound, t This 

 stream is the Sydenham river, and the falls, which are situated over 

 two miles south of the town, are known as ' ' Sydenham ' ' or 



* Fern Bull. 4: 74. iSgS. 



t J. A. Paine, in Am. Journ. Sci. & Arts, II. 42: 2Si. iS66. 



