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it to be a curious Polytrichum and went back to look 

 at it. 



The plants seemed fairly plentiful, for after finding 

 the first specimen, I noted others in many places on the 

 open, drier parts of the bog. They seemed to select spots 

 where the sphagnum had died away, and where their 

 green, wiry, cork-screw-like sterile fronds were rendered 

 more conspicuous against the light background. In fact 

 I did not detect any plants growing in the living green 

 sphagnum. 



The bog seemed remarkably free of ferns of any 

 description. Around the borders of the barren in places 

 was a thick belt of dwarfed spruce, perhaps a hundred 

 yards in width, together with Sorbus Americana, while 

 in other places there was no intermediate growth between 

 the enveloping forest and the treeless barren. Especially 

 near the outer zone of the swamp, there were clumps of 

 Cassandra (ChamcedapJuie calyculata) and Kalmia 

 angustifolid, while a sparse growth of Vaccinium 

 Canadcnsc covered the greater part of the bog. 



There were a few small pools in or about which grew 

 Utricularia cornuta, together with Drosera intermedia. 

 But the bog was remarkably free from surface water 

 despite the heavy rains, and it reminded me of the raised 

 peat bogs of New Brunswick as described by Gaming. 



The only other plants I noted were the small " bog- 

 cranberries," which grew in abundance over the entire 

 barren, and one or two dwarfed species of Aster and 

 Solidago in the drier parts. 



Such barrens as this are of frequent occurrence 

 'throughout the plateau-like region in the western half of 

 Cape Breton, and are often miles in extent. Though T 

 did not have opportunity to visit any others, it seems 

 hardly probable that Sehiccea is restricted to this one bog. 

 I was told that the fern had been seen in a bog near 

 Sydney, but did not have time to verify this statement. 



Yale University, A T ezi f Haven, Ct. 



