RATTLESNAKE FERN AND ADDER’S-TONGUE. 45 
Our plant is found from New Brunswick to the Tropics 
and the Pacific Coast. Throughout most of this region 
it is fairly common. It has numerous relatives but none 
resemble it enough to be mistaken for it. It grows readily 
in cultivation if given shade, moisture and a light soil. 
Specimens that have been considered indentical with our 
plant have been reported from Europe and Asia. 
The Adder s- Tongue. 
It is safe to say that the adder’s-tongue (Ophioglossum 
vulgatum) is much better known to the collector from 
pictures and herbarium specimens than it is from experi- 
ence inthe field. Although the plant is widely distrib- 
uted and when found at all is likely to be abundant, the 
many who have carefully and unavailingly searched their 
localities for it are quite willing to admit that this abund- 
ance is not general. Still, it may happen after all, that 
the plant has only been overlooked, for it is not conspic- 
uous, and some day when least expected may appear. 
So the search continues. All who have once found it, 
testify to the ease with which they subsequently find 
other stations for it, and incline to the belief that its 
single leaf is often passed under the impression that it is 
the leaf of some flowering plant, such as Pogonia or the 
two-leaved Solomon’s seal. It seems a plant that one 
must first discover by accident before he can find it by 
intention. 
Doubtless the most promising place to look for it is 
among the grasses and sedges in moist meadows, but upon 
this point there is considerable difference of opinion. 
Some years ago, several writers gave their experience 
in collecting it,in the Fern Bulletin. One wrote that in 
northern New York, he found it in “dry pastures, on and 
