No. 389] ` VACATION NOTES. 399 
excèssive dampness of the climate must render the curing of 
hay a serious problem. 
As might be expected, the mild, moist climate is favorable to 
the growth of most of the lower plants. Ferns are abundant 
and in considerable variety, considering the high latitude. No 
exact list was made, but there are probably a dozen species 
about Sitka. Pteris aquilina is not so common as it is farther 
south, but several species of Asplenium and Aspidium were 
very abundant, and Asplenium filix fæmima was. especially 
luxuriant, with fronds five or six feet high. On the rocks near 
the shore a Polypodium (P. falcatum?) was common, and in 
the woods, besides the ferns already mentioned, the common 
beech fern (Phegopteris) and the striking Blechnum spicant 
were abundant. Alaska is the only region in America, so far 
as I know, where the latter common European fern is found. 
The only other Pteridophytes noted were Egutsetium arvense 
and Lycopodium annotinum, which was not, however, abundant. 
Fungi abounded, but no special notes were made in regard 
to them. The most conspicuous parasitic one was an Exoba- 
sidium, probably Æ. vaccinii, which was very common on Men- 
ziesia, where it formed remarkable distortions both of the twigs 
and leaves, as well as the flowers. These gall-like growths, 
whether of the leaves or flowers, are usually quite destitute of 
chlorophyll, and of a pale pink color, with a delicate frosty 
bloom, caused by the spores of the fungus. The whole region 
promised a rich harvest to the mycologist. 
Very little was done in the way of collecting fresh-water 
algze, but material gathered in the bog pools showed many 
beautiful desmids and other interesting forms. The marine 
flora is exceptionally rich in the larger brown seaweeds, the 
Laminariacez being specially conspicuous and represented by 
many genera and species. The large kelps, like Nereocystis 
and Macrocystis, grow much higher up than they do farther 
south, and are correspondingly shorter. The tides are very 
marked at Sitka, and it was striking to see how near the high- 
tide mark many of the brown alge grew. Fucus, especially, 
grew where it was covered by the tide for a very little while, 
remaining exposed for much the greater part of the time. The 
