—24— 



WIND=BLOWN FERNERIES. 



IMMEDIATELY back of my house rises an abrupt, but some- 

 what broken ledge, facing south, in the crevices of which I 

 counted last season twenty three plants of Aspleniurn tri- 

 chomanes. a fern that is exceedingly rare in this vicinity. When 

 we came here to live in 1875 there was not a fern growing on this 

 ledge, and the only two plants of Trichomanes that I ever found 

 within a mile, or more, of our home disappeared suddenly — prob 

 ably being taken by some eager collector who chanced to discover 

 their hiding place in the deep woods — long before the specimens 

 made the'r appearance on my own ledge. 



At first only a tiny plant was discovered in one of the pockets 

 of the ledge, and this plant developed and grew without compan- 

 ionship for three or four years, when gradually other plants made 

 their appearance and continued to increase until the present nunr 

 ber was reached. If this increase continues as it has during the 

 past five years, this ledge promises to become a prolific abiding- 

 place for this lovely fern, and I shall have the pleasure of know- 

 ing that it will be under my own control and guardianship 



Two plants of Asplenium ebeneum and Woodsia obtusa have 

 also made their appearance here. The former grew sparingly 

 along the natural extension of the ledge not far away, but of the 

 latter, a half dozen plants three-fourths of a mile away, are all I 

 have ever seen within two miles of my residence. Now these 

 ferns have made their new home with me spontaneously, 

 and have done so in no other way than through the agency of 

 wind blown spores lodging in the crevices of the rocks. 



Some years ago my attention was called to the presence of 

 several species of fernn growing in the chinks of the wall on the 

 north side of the State prison in Charlestown, by Mr. C. E. Per- 

 kins, of Somerville ( a very promising young botanist who has 

 since died ). At that time the prison was not in use, and taking 

 advantage of its accessibility I made an investigation, which re- 

 sulted in finding not only such ferns as Aspidium spinulosum, 

 Asplenium filix-fcemina, Dicksonia and Cystopteris fragilis, but 

 some others, and quite a variety of flowering plants, mosses, li- 

 chens and liverworts, all of which had "apparently originated 

 from wind blown pollen and spores lodging in the damp joints 

 of the granite wall. 



In June, 1878, Mr. E. S Wheeler found in Berlin, Mass., 

 Botrychium simplex growing in the sandy soil of an unfenced 



