—25— 



My suggestions are not presented as a finality, for many of 

 the details have not yet been worked out ; but it seems to me that 

 it is along this line that future improvement in classification of 

 the ferns will have to be made. These and other changes are 

 destined to come soon, for the reason that they affect the natural 

 affinities and relationships of the ferns, and because by doing 

 away with artificial distinctions they will help to bring about a 

 more natural classification. 



NOTES ON A PECULIAR BOTRYCHIUM, 



By Alvah A. Eaton. 



WHILE hunting for capsules on Sphagnum in a maple 

 swamp at the foot of the north slope of a hill, in June, 

 1895, I observed numerous specimens of a small Bo- 

 try c Mum just appearing above the moss. It was at first supposed 

 to be matricariccfolium belated by its cool position, but that spe- 

 cies was prime June 20th, and situation seems to make little dif- 

 ference in its date. These specimens did not mature until July 

 20th, a full month later. I have since found it in nine localities, 

 in the towns of Kingston, Kensington, Hampton Falls and Sea- 

 brook, N. H., and Salisbury, Byfield and Amesbury, Mass. Mr. 

 Dodge adds West Newbury, and has found it in several places in 

 the other towns named. In some localities it appears to be abun- 

 dant, as I have collected 250 specimens in a small space (less than 

 two square rods), in about an hour. I find it usually among 

 maples, on the borders of the depressions where the leaves accu- 

 mulate and soak in the water which fills them in winter and 

 spring. 



Usually they are in close proximity to a sluggish brook, 

 which percolates through the soil rather than runs, keeping it in 

 a state of constant saturation. Given these conditions on the 

 north slope of a hill, and it will almost certainly be found in the 

 deep shade at the border of the swamp among dwarf Rhus toxi- 

 dodendron y Onoclea senszbih's, or other plants which may be 

 scattered about, but having a hard time of it on account of the 

 shade. 



Often B. matricarczfolium and lanceolatum are found with 

 it, where the area extends into a more open space. The width of 

 the patch is usually circumscribed to from three to six feet. 



The soil is always the richest leaf-mould, in which the bud is 



