1878. } Botany. . 249 
the spikelets become more highly developed, or are multiplied, 
toward the summit of the culm, particularly in the stouter, speci- 
mens, the flowers generally approach in character those of the 
terminal panicle, their outer palets becoming by degrees’ thinner 
and rougher, and assuming an awn, at first short, straight, and 
terminal, then becoming more and more twisted, and placed lower 
and lower between the teeth of the notched apex. The glumes, 
also, are gradually modified, until as shown by the specimens 
from the White Mountain Notch, those of the upper spikelets in 
the panicle issuing from the sheath of the upper leaf are scarcely 
different from those of the terminal panicle. These hidden flow- 
ers are perfect, the palets of moss of those examined being found 
to enclose well-developed seeds. May they not be considered as 
` a special means for the dissemination of this plant, which as a 
matter of fact is rapidly spreading over the drier soils of Vermont 
to the great detriment of agriculture, an ultimate scourge, com- 
pleting the desolation begun by indiscriminate use of the axe, and 
helped on by the consequent increasing droughts of our sum- 
mers? The seeds borne at the top of the culm of this grass fall 
readily for the most part in mid-summer; without aid in their 
dispersion, they must lodge in their immediate vicinity. But 
these concealed seeds securely stored within the sheath of the 
culms, when these are disjointed and swept away before the winds 
of autumn and winter, go to plant the species in new fields. 
Danthonia compressa Austin, exhibits precisely the same cleis- 
togamouS flowers as D. spicata, and its culm disarticulates even 
more readily. In on@ of the few specimens of D. sericea, exam- 
ined with this view, I find a one-flowered spikelet in its lower 
sheath ; in this species, however, as it may be worth mentioning, 
the culms seem less stiff and not so easily separable at the joints. 
In other genera of this family are these flowers to be found. I 
have already observed them in Vilfa, Holcus, and Arrhenatherum. 
—C. G. Pringle. y r z 
FERNS oF NorTH AmeRICA!— In the present number plates are 
given of Asplenium ebeneum Aiton., Asplenium ebenoides Scott. 
Three species of Botrychium, namely, B. lunaria Sw., B. lanceo- 
latum Ang., and B. coreale Milde, Cheilanthes lanuginosa Nutt, 
and Cheilanthes californica Mett. All of these except the last 
are described at considerable length. Prof. Eaton begins in each 
case with a concise diagnosis. This is followed by the synonymy 
1 By Prof. DANIEL C. EATON. Part 2—Naturalists’ Agency, Salem, Mass., $1.00, 
