ASPLENIUM FONTANUM IN THE WEST. 



By B. D. Gilbert. 



OW would you like a bit of gossip to supplement your de- 



lightfully interesting article on Asplenium fontanum in the 



July number of the Fern Bulletin? You imply in that 

 article that this species has not been found " in this country," ex- 

 cept in the two localities mentioned, although you say "it is not 

 preposterous to suppose that the fern may occur in other parts of 

 America." Now, in my herbarium there is a beautiful little plant, 

 underneath which is the following original label: 



U. S. Pacific Coast Flora. 



Asplenium fontanum, Var. 

 ( New to U. S. ) "Conservatory" (Canon). 

 Huachuca Mts., Ariz. Aug. 8, '82. 

 Lemmon Herbarium, Oakland, Cala. 



Now if this label were correct, you see there would be another and 

 probably a better vouched-for station, because no doubt more 

 specimens were collected. The date is August 8, 1882. I have a 

 letter from Prof. Lemmon, written at Fort Huachua, Oct. 5, 1882, 

 during the same expedition in which our fern was gathered. In 

 it he describes how he broke one of the metacarpal bones of his 

 hand in sliding down the steep walls of a canon; "but," he says, 

 with a fine disregard of the accident, " I found three more inter- 

 esting ferns for my reward. Sent specimens of all to Prof. Eaton, 

 but get no returns as yet. I think one or two of the ferns are 

 new, at least they are not described in Eaton's great work. 



So they were discovered too late to get into Eaton's " Ferns 

 of North America," and, of course, too late to be in the first edi- 

 tion of Prof Underwood's "Our Native Ferns," which was pub- 

 lished in 1881. Now comes the question: Was Prof. Lemmon's 

 label correct ? The fern was sent to me with others in the follow- 

 ing November, when, I take it for granted, Prof. Eaton had sent 

 to Prof. Lemmon a provisional list of what thought the species 

 might prove to be, after more careful examination and study. 

 Prof. Lemmon had made up his sets and was anxious to distribute 

 them, as his patrons were waiting to receive them; so he sent 

 them out with the names originally furnished by Prof. Eaton. I 



