102 AMERICAN FERN JOURNAL 
of the plants, of all sizes, growing on bare soil among 
rocks, where there was little other vegetation. Probab- 
ly the plants are not rare at middle elevations, but they 
are so small and so hidden among other vegetation that 
they are not easily found. 
POLYPODIACEAE 
Polypodium hesperium Maxon. Occasional on the east 
slope at middle or rather low altitudes; infrequent on the 
west slope; in crevices of shaded argillite cliffs and on 
mossy boulders in deep woods. The plants seldon occur 
in any considerable quantity, and in dry places they are 
‘small and shriveled. The rhizomes are sweet and have 
a flavor like that of licorice. 
Adiantum pedatum aleuticum Rupr. Not common, 
but found in several places above or near timber line, in 
crevices of argillite and limestone cliffs; a few plants 
found on the west slope at Avalanche Lake, growing ina 
log jam at the foot of the lake, doubtless carried down 
by water from some more elevated station. All the - 
plants seen were decidedly small. Their habitat is very 
different from that of the maidenhair as it is commonly 
found in the eastern and central states. The plants 
seem to be almost confined to the Hudsonian Zone, a 
distribution which must be rather unusual in the western 
United States. Piper gives the zonal distribution in 
Washington as Humid Transition and Canadian. Fern- 
ald, however, states! that the plant is alpine in the Gaspé 
Peninsula of Quebee, and it appears to be arctic in some 
portions of Alaska. There is a fine colony of the plants 
along the cliffs beside the trail just below Iceberg Lake. 
Pteridium aquilinum pubescens Underw. Common 
nearly everywhere in the wooded regions, but usually not 
extending to the upper limit of timber; in thin or dense 
woods, in wet thickets, or on open, rather dry slopes. In 
1 Rhodora 7: 190-192. 1905. 
