24 American Fern Journal 



species should be recognized instead of one, the second 

 species to be assigned the name B. cicutarium (Sar.) 

 Swartz. To this latter species he assigns as synonyms 

 B. dichronum Underwood, B. brachystachys Kunze, and 

 J5. virginianum v. mexicanum Hooker. 



B. cicutarium he distinguishes from B. virginianum 

 on the basis of the persistent leaves which last more 

 than one season, and the comparatively shorter fertile 

 portion. B. cicutarium, as recognized, is native in the 

 West Indies and Central America. Typical B. virgini- 

 anum ranges as far south as the State of Hidalgo, Mexico. 



High School of Commerce, 



120 W. 46th St., New York City. 



Notes and News 



Concerning the perservation of new forms of ferns 



I find in the January issue of the American Fern 

 Journal a reference to a " belated maidenhair " (A. 

 pedatum) which is of interest, as it may imply a semper- 

 vivum form of that species well worth cultivation if 

 the plant had been collected for cultivation instead of, 

 as is too often the case, destroyed by collectors for mere 

 herbarium purposes. In fact the final remark "how 

 much longer it might have survived" rather indicates 

 another instance of botanical vandalism. A parallel 

 case, with one material difference, exists in the case of 

 the deciduous Cystopteris fragilis, of which a perfectly 

 green plant was discovered in the Highlands of Scot- 

 land some years ago in the winter. The plant was 

 lifted and grown and eventually a fertile frond was 

 sent to me, from which I rai* d a large number of very 

 robust plants, which proved to be not merely "semper- 



9 



virens or evergreen, but practically " sempercrescens 

 since they grew all the year round, while the species 



