RATTLESNAKE FERN AND ADDER'S-TONGUE. 45 



Our plant is found from New Brunswick to the Tropics 

 and the Pacific Coast. Throughout most of this region 

 it is fairly common. It has numerous relatives but none 

 resemble it enough to be mistaken for it. It grows readily 

 in cultivation if given shade, moisture and a light soil. 

 Specimens that have been considered indentical with our 

 plant have been reported from Europe and Asia. 



The Adder s-Tongue. 



It is safe to say that the adder's-tongue (Ophioglossum 

 vulgatum) is much better known to the collector from 

 pictures and herbarium specimens than it is from experi- 

 ence in the field. Although the plant is widely distrib- 

 uted and when found at all is likely to be abundant, the 

 many who have carefully and unavailingly searched their 

 localities for it are quite willing to admit that this abund- 

 ance is not general. Still, it may happen after all, that 

 the plant has only been overlooked, for it is not conspic- 

 uous, and some day when least expected may appear. 

 So the search continues. All who have once found it, 

 testify to the ease with which they subsequently find 

 other stations for it, and incline to the belief that its 

 single leaf is often passed under the impression that it is 

 the leaf of some flowering plant, such as Pogonia or the 

 two-leaved Solomon's seal. It seems a plant that one 

 must first discover by accident before he can find it by 

 intention. 



Doubtless the, most promising place to look for it is 

 among the grasses and sedges in moist meadows, but upon 

 this point there is considerable difference of opinion. 

 Some years ago, several writers gave their experience 

 in collecting it, in the Fern Bulletin. One wrote that in 

 northern New York, he found it in " dry pastures, on and 



