REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST, 1898 669 



rush, the scirpus-like sedge and Macoun's stipa. Nevertheless I have 

 retained these species in the Hst, since it is possible that they are still 

 there. 



Carex Bigelovii Torr. 



Bigelow's sedge is the only one found on the highest part of the moun- 

 tain. It grows about the rock on wliich the signal is planted. \\'\\\\ one 

 exception the other sedges will be found on the two marshes. Probably 

 no other Adirondack peak has as many species of sedges and grasses 

 growing on it as this. The list contains the names of eight sedges and 

 10 grasses. 



Dryopteris spinulosa {Retz) Kuntze 



The spinulose shield fern and the long beech fern ascend to the open 



summit of Mt Marcy, but they fail to fruit in this bleak locality. The 



former usually has a pale yellowish green hue, short fronds and pinnae 



more blunt than in well developed specimens. It is common, well 



developed and fertile among the small balsam firs below the tree limit. 



The latter is also smaller than usual and is evidently not fully at home 



here. 



Sphagnum cymbifolium Ehrh. 



The numerous peat mosses found here are good witnesses to the moist 

 character of the place. They require a copious supply of water and 

 refuse to grow where this is not obtainable. They also indicate, by their 

 peculiarly modified form, the cold and windy character of the locality. 

 Their stems are shorter than usual, the branches are crowded and the 

 plants are closely compacted in dense cushions as if for mutual support 

 and protection. In the more sheltered places they approach more 

 nearly their normal development. 



Sphagnum sedoides Brid. 



This is a singular peat moss. It forms soft mats of Hmited extent upon 

 the wet surface of rocks. Beginning at the margin of the thin soil 

 covering the upper part of an outcrop of rock, the stems lie prostrate on 

 the surface, parahel to each other, with their growing tips away from the 

 soil and lower than their bases. The color of this peat moss is usually 

 vinous red or purplish brown, but sometimes it is greenish, yellowish or 

 yellowish brown. There are two forms, one having the stems simple or 

 nearly so, the other bearing numerous short curved branches. The 

 name S. sedoides was formerly limited to the simple form and S. Pylaesii 

 appKed to the branched form. In the recently published Aiialytic keys 

 to the genera and species of North American 7nosses, the two forms are 

 included as one species under the name Sphagmun Fylaiei. 



