Weatherby: Ferns of the Dolomites 7 



rocks which show no effervescence when tested with acid, 

 and far from any source of calcareous sediment. As 

 would be expected in a plant of so diverse habitat, it 

 develops considerable differences in the size and shape of 

 the fronds and numerous named varieties are recorded 



in local floras. 



A frequent companion of the wall-rue on walls and way- 

 sides is the maiden-hair spleenwort, Asplenium Tricho- 

 ma nes. It does not, however, penetrate the woods. 

 There, on shaded, mossy boulders and ledges, its place is 

 taken by Asplenium viride, distinguishable at a glance by 

 its green rachis. ^4. viride seems to prefer not only more 

 shaded situations, but also higher altitudes, than A. 



Trichomanes. 



Another frequent species of open rich woods is Phegop- 

 teris Robertiana. The "Flora von Tirol" reports Ph. 

 Dryopteris as also common in the region which we tra- 

 versed. Even with our leisurely manner of traveling, 



we could not stop to search for gland- on every specimen 

 of beech fern we passed, nor always make out clearly the 

 outline of the frond from our moving carriage; but all the 

 plants I saw seemed to be, and all that I examined surely 

 were, Ph. Robertiana. In moist places in the woods, in- 

 dividual specimens sometimes attain a remarkably large 

 size for this species — so large that, from a little distance, 

 it would be easy to mistake them for small plants of 



Pteris aquilina. 



The bracken, though occasional all along our route, 

 was nowhere abundant and, when seen, was somewhat 

 small and starved looking. Nowhere were there such 

 thickets of fronds shoulder-high as may be een in Eng- 

 land. Another familiar specie^, Asplenium Filix-femina, 

 was similarly occasional throughout our course but never 



in great quantity. 



From Cortina in the upper Ampezzo valley, we made a 



