124 



Atpidium simulatum. 



THE MARSH FERN TRIBE. 



fairly plentiful over a wide range 

 of territory. When one becomes 

 acquainted with its appearance it 

 is veVy easily distinguished from 

 its congeners, but its superficial 

 resemblance to the marsh and New 

 York ferns is close enough to make 

 trouble for the novice. 



When this species was first col- 

 lected, is perhaps not known. There 

 is a note in Eaton's " Ferns of North 

 America " regarding a form of 

 Thelypteris " with most of the veins 

 simple and the lower pinnae a little 

 contracted " which is doubtless to be re- 

 ferred to this species, and Lawson seems 

 to have had the same thing in mind when 

 he described in the Canadian Naturalist 

 his variety intermedium of Aspidium 

 Thelypteris. Mr. Raynal Dodge, however, was 

 first to notice its specific differences. He 

 originally collected it about 1880 near Sea- 

 brook, N. H., and after referring it for some 

 time from Thelypteris to Noveboracense and 

 back again without being satisfied of its 

 identity, came to the conclusion that it was 

 neither. It was subsequently named sim- 

 ulatum by Mr. Geo. E. Davenport. 



Aspidium simulatum is certainly a very dis- 

 tinct species, but in habit and habitat it is so 

 nearly like its allies as to suggest the thought 

 that it may be a hybrid. It seems about 

 midway between the two in everything, even as 



