114 



THE fern bulletin 



some localities not so far advanced as in others. 



May 10. New stalks of Equisetum hyemale are 

 coming up, and I had a chance of seeing the blackish 

 teeth. Already the most of them have fallen off, al- 

 though the stalks are scarcely out of the ground and 

 are but a few inches in height. 



June 1. Young shoots of Equisetum hyemale still 

 appearing. Old stalks that have fruited are branching 

 near the top. 



July 1. Young shoots of Equisetum hyemale are 

 shedding spores. 



July 13. Young shoots of Equisetum hyemale still 

 shedding spores. 



From the above records, although rather incomplete, 

 I am led to believe that Equisetum hyemale has a pro- 

 longed fruiting period, occurring most abundantly in 

 the early part of July, when it covers a period of about 

 two weeks, and continuing until cold weather. 



However, after the middle of July, spore-shedding 

 specimens are certainly less frequently seem, (I have 

 no record of seeing any), although fertile spikes are 

 continually being produced (?). It would seem that 

 most of these late-formed fertile shoots, do not fully 

 mature, for some reason or other. At any rate, they 

 persist through the winter in tightly-closed spore-cases, 

 and await the warm days of spring. Then, already in 

 the latter part of March; there is a noticeable increase 

 in size of these old late-formed spore-cases, and during 

 the latter part of April, covering a period of about two 

 weeks, there is again a shedding of spores, this time 

 from these late-formed cases. The beginning and 

 length of these two fruiting periods vary with the lo- 

 cality. In some localities, especially those in shady 

 woods, this Equisetum is seldom, if ever found in fruit; 



