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CHELIANTHES LANOSA. 



MY bed of lanosa is on the south side of a gray sandstone 

 cliff which rises from the river's edge. Here the sunlight 

 filters through, and lightly strikes the large shallow pockets 

 of loam, watered from the rocks above and held in place by a net- 

 work of roots and creeping root-stocks. These pockets are cov- 

 ered with dead and growing fronds and are well protected against 

 drought; but should the summer heat become too great, Cheilan- 

 thes tucks her curly head away and sleeps until another shower. 

 On the north side of this cliff are Asplenium trichomanes, A. 

 parvulum and Pellaea atropurpurea, but no lanosa. She is con- 

 tented with the complete possession of the south side. The velvet 

 knobs on the root stock, by means of which she extends her do- 

 minion, suggest to me the budding horns of our Virginia deer. — 

 Prof. W. Alphonso Murrill, Staunton, Va. 



EVERAL times during winter and early spring, while living 



in Pasadena, I drove up to the mountains about three miles 



north of town, in search of such flowers and ferns as I could 

 find by driving, as I had no strength for walking or mountain- 

 climbing. My favorite haunt was Eaton's canon, as that one is 

 most pleasant for those who must keep close- to the carriage. En- 

 tering the canon, the sandy wagon-road winds about among the 

 boulders, many of which are glaring in the strorjg sunshine, 

 while others are wholly or partially shaded by live oaks or such 

 shrubs as the Bay tree ( Laurus nobilis), the Californian holly 

 ( Heteromelis arbutifolia ), the mountain sage ( Artemisia triden- 

 tata), and that enemy which it is often quite serious to encounter 

 — Rhus toxicodendron. The ascent is quite gradual until about 

 two miles from the mouth of the canon the Toll-gate is reached, 

 where begins the trail to Mt. Wilson. This being as far as I 

 could drive into the canon, I always tied my horse, and, with the 

 friend or my little child who accompanied me, looked about, 

 where within a few feet of the carriage we generally found nu- 

 merous flowers as well a? a few ferns. The ferns were always 

 Gymnogramme triangularis, Pellsea andromedaefolia and P. orni- 

 thopus. 



Here in the strong sunlight and amid the boulders, with 

 yucca and cactus plants as their nearest neighbors, these ferns 



SOME CALIFORNIAN FERNS. 



