, /, (; M 



FERNS. 59'^'' 



grew sparingly. This, and many other rare ferns and plants from 

 other States, had been set out in eastern Massachusetts by himself 

 and others, and the future botanist of some localities may be puz- 

 zled to distinguish between them and indigenous plants. 



Mr. Robinson said that the Camptosorus grew naturally in lime- 

 stone regions, and would not be found far away from that forma- 

 tion, which extends from Vermont through the Appalachian Moun- 

 tains to Alabama. 



J. W. Hubbard had had two short experiences with ferns — in his 

 boyhood and in the last two years. He had mowed in the pastures 

 in New Hampshire, on rainy da^'s, what was then called. " Poly- 

 pody," and it seemed to grow all the more vigorously for being 

 cut. He had been drawn to his later observations of ferns by 

 seeing them exhibited here, and had found it a much pleasanter 

 experience. No branch of botany is so bewildering to a beginner, 

 on account of the multiplicity of names. He had felt seriously 

 the want of some book comprising all the American ferns, and 

 had interested himself in getting some one to write such a work. 

 He suggested that the Society should give its influence to induce 

 some competent person to prepare a work on ferns, their mode of 

 growth, etc. 



John B. Moore said that some ferns were great nuisances to farmers, 

 — the common brake {Osmunda cinnamomea) for instance — you 

 cannot kill them b}- mowing, it is almost impossible to plow them 

 up, and if dug up the roots will not deca}^ for twenty-five years. 

 He liked ferns by roadsides, but not in mowing. 



Mr. Rand said that the law against cutting the Lygodium 

 allowed it to be gathered before the spores are ripe. It has been 

 said here that the Gymnogrammes were impatient of water, and 

 do well in the house. It is true that water is death to the fronds, 

 but they revel in a moist atmosphere, and he had been unsuccess- 

 ful in cultivating them as house plants. 



Benjamin P. Ware said that Col. Daniel Needham, who has a 

 large quantity of land in Groton, where the climbing fern (Lygo- 

 dium) grows abundantly, found people were making from twenty 

 to thirty dollars a day gathering it. 



Mr. Hovey thought there was no more danger of exterminating 

 the Lygodium than the cranberry, the vines of which are gathered 

 by millions for planting. 



Mr. Rand spoke of the quantity in which ferns grow when they 



