Nc 



1919] 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



97 



BOTRYCHIUM OBLIQUUM MUHL.. AND VAR. DISSECTUM (SPRENG.) 

 NEW TO THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. 



By H. Mousley, Hatley, Que. 



It has been said in one of the handbooks on ferns 

 that if you begin your search for them in March 

 you will hardly be rewarded by finding any but the 

 evergreen species, and even these are not likely to 

 be especially conspicuous at this season. If this is 

 so, what excuse I am going to make for searching 

 for them in December I hardly know except that my 

 enthusiasm for all natural history pursuits knows no 

 bounds ,and refuses to be curbed by conventional 

 ideas. I search almost as eagerly for rare War- 

 blers' nests late in the fall as I do in the summer, 

 and having just taken up the study of ferns I was 

 anxious to see whether it was not possible even in 

 the depths of winter to locate and name quite a 

 number by means of their dead and dried fruiting 

 fronds. Now I do not wish to pose as a kind of 

 super-human person, for had not nature in the 

 present instance come to my aid in the shape of a 

 very rapid thaw during the second week in Decem- 

 ber, I am afraid this paper would never have ap- 

 peared in print, nor would I have obtained very 

 many evidences of the existence of even dead fruit- 

 ing fronds ,as most of these in the natural order of 

 things would have been buried under a heavy coat- 

 ing of snow, which in these parts is gen.:rally in 

 evidence (more or less) for seven months out of the 

 twelve. 



However, this winter (1918-19) has been par- 

 ticularly kind and from December 1 5 to 23 (owing 

 to the afore-mentioned thaw) the fields were prac- 

 tically clear of snow, and the woods had compara- 

 tively little in" them as compared with other years. 

 This state of things made it possible, therefore, to 

 indulge in winter fern hunting, and for a week I 

 spent a good deal of my time in visiting spots where 

 I had previously noticed some of the large Osmun- 

 das, Onocleas and others, whose fruiting fronds are 

 so very different from the sterile ones, and which as 

 a rule can generally be found even in winter, when 

 there is hardly a vestige of the latter left. During 

 the above week I found the following species and 

 varieties, viz: Maiden hair (Adianlum pcdatum). 

 Common Brake or Bracken (Ptcris aquilina). 

 Silvery Speenwort (Aspleniuiu acrostichoiJcs), 

 Christmas Fern (Pol})slrichum acrostichoides), 

 Marsh Fern (Aspidium thelypleris). Crested Shield 

 Fern (Aspidium crisiatum), Clinton's Wood Fern 

 (Aspidium crisiatum var. Clinlonianutu), Bootl's 

 Shield Fern (Aspidium Boottii), Spinulose Wood 

 Fern (Aspidium spinulosum var. intermedium). 

 Hay-scented Fern (Dicl(sonia punctilobula). Sensi- 

 tive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis,) Ostrich Fern (Ono- 

 clea sirulhiopteris), Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis). 



Interrupted Fern (Osmunda cla\)toniana), and last 

 but by no means least the Ternate Grape Fern 

 (Botrychium obliquum), and the var. dissectum, 

 both of which form the title of this paper. 



Little did I think when I set out on the morning 

 of December 21, that I was going to add an ad- 

 ditional species and variety to the list of Quebec 

 ferns, yet such was the case, as Mr. J. M. Macoun 

 tells me that there are no records at Ottawa of the 

 two ever having been found in the province before, 

 nor are there any examples in the Herbarium of 

 the Geological Survey from this section of Canada. 



Of B. obliquum, however, there are examples 

 from two localities in Nova Scotia, and from several 

 around Niagara Falls, whilst of the var. dissectum 

 some are from New Brunswick, and some from 

 localities also around Niagara Falls. In Gray's 

 Manual, 7th edition, p. 49, there are several illus- 

 trations of the varieties of B. obliquum, including 

 one of the var. dissectum, and seeing that the species 

 is polymorphous there are no doubt many others 

 yet to be found, so that it is altogether quite an in- 

 teresting plant and one well worth looking for. 

 As a matter of fact neither of my examples are 

 quite typical, and do not agree exactly either v^th 

 those from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Niagara 

 Falls. 



I only found one example of each in a very shel- 

 tered spot under a cedar tree on the outskirts 

 of a large wood about two miles to the south of 

 Hatley village .this wood forming part of the farm 

 originally known as the Poole farm, but now be- 

 longing to Mr. Will Hunter. The specimens were 

 quite fresh and green when found, and after having 

 been duly pressed and preserved they were subse- 

 quently presented to the Herbarium at Ottawa. Of 

 the var. dissectum. Gray in his Manual says: "Often 

 found with the typical form in New England," and 

 so I found it here, the two not being more than 

 twelve inches apart from one another, which fact 

 I imagine is all in favor of dissectum being pro- 

 nounced a variety of B. obliquum and not a separate 

 species as some are still inclined to consider it I 

 believe. 



In conclusion I may say that besides the species 

 already enumerated I had previously found the fol- 

 lowing additional ones, viz: Long Beech Fern 

 ( Phegopteris poNpodioides), and Oak F.:rn (Phe- 

 gopteris dr\)opleris), these two bringing my list up 

 to a lota! of eighteen, which may be considered very 

 satisfactory, I think, for the amount of time so far 

 spent on the subject. 



