FERN-HUNTING IN PANAMA 7 
to the Pacific Ocean, that most of my botanizing was 
done. Fortunately I had my automobile with me, 
and so was able to make about twenty-five trips be- 
tween the middle of September and the middle of May. 
A tropical jungle is well-nigh impenetrable, and the 
only way to go through it is by following occasional 
hunting-trails or by wading up and down the countless 
small streams. One of the best of these trails ran first 
through a dense palm jungle where various species of 
Adiantum and Lindsaya, Dictyoxiphium panamense, and 
Dryopteris refulgens predominated, then crossed a couple 
of sabanas and ran along the edge of “ Tree-fern Gully.” 
This was a deep ravine with a narrow stream at the 
bottom, very rich in ferns. Several specimens of a 
striking species of Cyathea occurred there, as well as 
unusual species of Dryopteris, Tectaria, and Lepto- 
chilus. Great plants of Mazonia apiifolia, with huge 
sterile fronds and strikingly different, skeleton-like 
fertile ones, were found in abundance, climbing tree 
trunks. The wet clay banks of the stream were cov- 
ered with many small ferns, while upon fallen logs 
various species of Polypodium, Vittaria, and Hymen- 
ophyllum were growing. Farther down this stream the 
handsome Diplazium grandifolium became the _pre- 
dominant fern, while at its junction with one of the 
main branches of the Juan Diaz River, the high rocky 
banks were covered with species of .Dicranopteris and 
Pteris. 
Another interesting trail passed through a forest, 
where, in addition to the many ever-present species © 
of Adiantum, the most striking fern was Lophidiwm 
elegans, a fern with sterile fronds greatly resembling 
a young palm. Among the rocks in the dry sabanas 
which are met with frequently on this trail, four differ- 
ent species of Anemia were found. (A. oblongifolia, 
A. pastinacaria, A. hirsuta, and A. humilis.) Along 
