THE 



FERN BULLETIN 



VOL V. 



JANUARY, 1897. 



NO. I. 



A5PLENIU1 EgBNOtOBS IN VIRGINIA. 



By Ppof. V7. Alphonso Murrill. 



IT was on the hottest day of last July that I found my first plant 

 of Asplenium ebenoides. Before leaving (Uacksburg Idiscov- 

 ed six other plants, in five different localities, but none prov- 

 ed quite so interesting as that first one, which added Virginia to 

 the small list of states that grow the rarest one of all our ferns. 



By careful search, however, among our limestone formations, 

 I see no reason why the number of stations for ebenoides should 

 not be increased, for it thrives in the light, rich soil at the base of 

 limestone rocks, and nearly as well, so far as my experience goes, 

 in exposed but shaded situations on the side- of limestone cliffs. 

 Indeed, judging from the localities where A. pinnatifidum, its 

 nearest congener, is found, I should not be much surprised to find 

 it on cliffs of sandstone. One of my plants grew on the eaves of a 

 large mass of chert covered with Polypodium vulgare; though 

 this chert was formerly embedded iu Lower Silurian limestone. I 

 have also found it here in Virginia with Pelhea atropurpurea, As- 

 plenium platyneuron, Oamptosorus, Asplenium par vulum, A ruta- 

 muraria, A. trichomanes, Woodsia obtusa, and Adiantum peda- 

 tum. 



When first seen, ebenoides suggests a small, prim plant of 

 Camptosorus which has found its situation uncomfortably sunny 

 and holds up its half-grown tips at a safe distance from the dry 

 earth. On closer examination, the body of the frond is seen to be 

 pinnatifid, and the sori of true Asplenium type: so our fiud must 

 be either A. ebenoides or A pinnatifidum. Although these two 

 ferns resemble each other closely in size, color, texture and gener- 

 al outline, I think it is possible with several specimens before me, 

 to point out some well-defined differences. 



