SHORTER NOTES 27 
Some VirGinta Ferns—On November 24, 1919, at 
Natural Bridge, Va., I found two plants of Aspleniuwm 
ebenoides R. R. Scott. This fern had previously been 
reported from this station. Camptosorus rhizophyllus 
(L.) Link was ridiculously common and there was 
plenty of Asplenium parvulum Mart. & Gal. 
At Lynchburg, Va., on November 23, large, vigorous 
specimens of Cheilanthes lanosa (Michx.) Watt were 
readily obtained.—Joun P. Youna, Washington, D. C. 
Some UnorriciAL Fern Lore—<According to a little 
book on ‘“‘the sentiment of flowers, or language of 
Flora,’ adapted from the French of Madame de la 
Tour and published at Philadelphia in 1840, the ‘‘ Fern” 
is the emblem of sincerity. This will seem appropriate 
enough to any fern-lover; but note the reason for it: 
“Fern often affords an agreeable seat to lovers; its 
ashes are used in the manufacture of glasses for the 
convivial party; and all the world knows that love 
‘and wine make men sincere!”’ 
As the reference to its use in the manufacture of glass 
shows, the fern here meant is the European bracken. 
Two other ferns appear in the book. The maiden 
hair (Adiantum Capillus-Veneris?) is the emblem of 
discretion or secrecy because ‘‘botanists have in vain 
sought to find out the nature of this plant, which seems 
determined to conceal from their learned researches 
the secret of its flowers and its fruit. It confides to 
zephyrs alone the invisible germs of its young family.” 
The flowering fern (Osmunda regalis) symbolizes reverie 
and we are told that Mathiole attributes to it ‘the 
virtue of inspiring prophetic dreams.” 
A bit of fern folk-lore, which has found its way into 
so serious and respectable a work as Mrs. Lincoln’s 
Botany, is this: ‘One species in our country, Onoclea 
