Vol. 3 No. n 



TORREYA 



LIBR 



November, 1903 



BC 



THE FERNS OF THE ORGAN MOUNTAINS 



By E. O. Wooton 



Lying as they do some twelve miles east of the Mesilla Valley, 

 it has been my privilege and great pleasure to visit the Organ 

 Mountains of southern New Mexico at practically all seasons of 

 the year and thus to become very thoroughly acquainted with 

 their flora. A number of years of study and field contact with 

 the flora of New Mexico in general has made me quite conver- 

 sant with its plants. 



Perhaps the most striking characteristic of the flora of these 

 mountains as compared with that of the Territory is the relatively 

 large number of ferns growing there. Of the total number of ferns 

 reported for New Mexico (30 species and 2 varieties)*, I have 

 collected 23 species and 2 varieties, and of this number 19 species 

 and the 2 varieties are to be found in the Organ Mountains. In 

 no other mountains of the Territory have I found more than 6 

 species, though I have visited a number of ranges on horseback 

 or in a wagon. This difference in the abundance of ferns is all 

 the more noticeable because the Organs are dry, rocky, and warm, 

 while the Sacramento and Mogollon mountains are both more or 

 less heavily timbered and watered, thus affording those cool, 

 damp nooks that ferns particularly delight in. 



The difference in number of species in favor of the Organs may 

 be in part accounted for by the thoroughness with which I have 



*The Pteridophyta of North America, north of Mexico. Linnaean Fern Bulletin, 

 No. 9. 1895. 



[Vol. 3, No. 10, of Torreya, comprising pages 145-160, was issued October 30, 

 1903. For date of issue of No. 9 (footnote, p. 145) read September 26 instead of 

 September 6.] 



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