Sor. Reactions or Ferns tT 
best distinguished as the lowland and highland lady 
ferns respectively. The lowland species, which is com- 
mon on the Atlantic Coastal Plain and on the Piedmont 
Plateau, has a very wide range of soil preference. In the 
extreme acid sands of the Coastal plain it does not thrive 
so well as in subacid soils; but it is decidedly luxuriant 
in limestone regions too. The highland lady fern, so 
called because it is best developed in the Allegheny 
Mountains and in the New England hills, is also rather 
wide ranging. Though apparently most luxuriant in 
practically neutral soils it was noted to grow all through 
the Presidential Range, White Mountains, New Hamp- 
shire, often well above the tree line, and extending al- 
most to the summit of Mt. Washington. As the soils be- 
came more acid, on ascending these mountains, the fern 
became smaller in stature, and even where conditions 
as to moisture content, shade, etc., were apparently 
favorable, it did not seem to thrive. On the other 
hand, neither was it found to do well in calcareous glac- 
ial drift. Both of these species are classed as indifferent, 
although they and their varieties deserve further study. 
The remaining ferns to be described all belong to the 
large genus or group of which the synonymy is shown in 
the table. The marsh fern, Dryopteris Thelypteris, is 
Wide-ranging, growing about equally well in acid bogs 
and in meadows watered by limestone springs. It is 
classed as indifferent. The ‘‘Massachusetts fern,” D. 
stmulata, has been observed only in swamps in Mary- 
land east and northeast of the District of Columbia, the 
soils being mediacid in all cases. Further study may 
show it to have a wider range, but for the present it may 
be classed as an intensely-acid soil plant. The New York 
fern, D. noveboracensis, is, however, about as wide rang- 
ing as the marsh fern, and is similarly classed. 
The beech fern group, formerly placed in a separate 
genus Phegopteris, but now included under Dryopteris, 
