92 



In the part of its range with wiiich I am best acquainted, the 

 middle and northern portions of Georgia and Alabama, its fav- 

 orite hosts are the post oak, the elm, and tulip tree, though it is 

 found in greater or less abundance on many others. I have even 

 seen it on the stem of a large poison oak vine {Rhus radicans) 

 that had climbed the trunk of an old tulip tree on which the fern 

 had established itself. But so constant is its preference for the 

 elm and post oak that its presence is a convenient test for dis- 



FiG. I. Post oak on a street in \\ ashington, Ga. ; the trunk and lower branches 

 covered with a growth of Resurrection Fern. 



tinguishing them at a glance, in winter, from other trees of simi- 

 lar habit and exterior when in the leafless state. As a general 

 thing it avoids trees with a smooth or exfoliating bark. The 

 reason for this is obvious, since it could not well secure a foot- 

 hold on such uncertain supports. There are, however, many- 

 exceptions. The magnolia and bay have both very smooth bark, 

 and the cedar exfoliates in long fibrous strips, yet it is not un- 

 common on all of these. I have never seen it on any kind of a 



