43 



Hart's-tongue is not uncommon in Japan, and may, like some 

 other species (notably Dryopteris montana, for a long time sup- 

 posed not to occur in North America), have an eastern extension 

 across into Alaska, and down the Pacific coast into British Colum- 

 bia. An examination of the material in the St. Petersburg Herbar- 

 ium, would of course establish the identity of the specimen, but 

 would not prove the authenticity of this station, since it has fre- 

 quently happened that plants from Russian territory upon both 

 sides of Behring Sea have been carelessly and indiscriminately 

 labeled. 



(c) I'ancoui'er Island, British Columbia. In the fall of 1898, 

 Mr. Hamburg, a Swedish botanist, then just returned from a col- 

 lecting trip in the West, assured me that he had recently collected 

 specimens of this species growing upon Vancouver Island. The 

 statement was, unfortunately, not substantiated by specimens. 



(d) Maniioulin Island, Canada. Professor W. H. Jenkins has 

 written me of the reported occurrence of the fern upon this island 

 in Lake Huron, rather more than a hundred miles northwest of 

 Owen Sound. I have found no further reference to its occurrence 

 here. 



(e) Louisville, Kentucky. John Williamson * was inclined to 

 discredit the reported station near Louz'sville, mentioned by Dr. 

 McMurtrie. t A reference to Dr. McMurtrie's book (Library of 

 Congress) shows the following entry : " Asplenium Scolopendrium 

 Crt. Hart's-tongue," along with a few other ferns reported from 

 the vicinity. It may be taken for granted that the Hart's-tongue 

 was not confused with another species, as the chances for such an 

 error are indeed small. The fact that Williamson was unable to 

 find the fern might indicate either that it has disappeared from the 

 vicinity, that -'vicinity" was made to include a considerable terri- 

 tory about Louisville, or that the fern has since been overlooked 

 near the city. The second supposition is the most likely. It seems 

 that Williamson and later botanists would have found the fern if it 

 still occurs in the immediate vicinity of Louisville ; and it is not 

 probable that it has been exterminated. At the time (1819) 



* Williamson, Ferns of Kentucky, p. iv. 1878. 



tH. McMurtrie, M. D., Sketches of Louisville and its Environs, Ed. i, p. 229 

 Louisvile, 1819. This book includes a " Florula Louisvillensis, or a catalogue 

 of nearly 400 genera and 600 species of Plants, that grow in the vicinity of the 

 town, exhibiting their Generic, Specific, and Vulgar English names." 



