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black, amid green patches of what at first glance appear to be the 

 broad leaves of the sensitive fern ( Onoclea sensibilis ), but which 

 somehow do not look quite like it, either. If we dig up a few 

 plants, however, both sorts will be found springing from one root- 

 stock and we are enabled to recognize then, the two forms of the 

 same fern. Sometimes fronds are found intermediate between 

 these two forms — analogous to the so-called variety obtusilobata 

 of O. sensibilis. 



In such swamps in spring, Osmunda cinnamomea and O. re- 

 galis unfold their stately leaves of almost tropical magnificence, 

 and disposed in large crowns. Pteris aquilina — the "brake" or 

 "bracken" of Old World song and story — grows to the very edge 

 of the swamps, but is most abundant in the dry sand of the Pine 

 Barrens, luxuriating in sunny openings. 



Among the most characteristic plants of the Pine Barrens are 

 several Lycopodiums, which creep and flourish in evergreen vigor 

 in sandy bogs, in wet savannas and on the damp sand in low places 

 and by streams. L. Carolinianum has already been alluded to. 

 It is a beautiful little plant, peculiar to the Pine Barren regions 

 of the Atlantic coast, and in New Jersey, the most northern limit, 

 it is quite abundant. L. inundatum is of much wider range. In 

 the New Jersey bogs it is often found with fertile stems five or 

 six inches high ( the variety Bigelovii ), and requiring care to dis- 

 tinguish it from L. alopecuroides, which grows in similar situa- 

 tions. This latter is also found at its northernmost limit in New 

 Jersey, and is a striking plant, with stout, bushy spikes which so 

 well resemble little fox- tails as to make the specific name quite 

 appropriate. In damp ground under the pines, L. obscurum 

 spreads its pretty fans. This is the Ground Pine, which is so un- 

 ceremoniously pulled up at Christmas time, tied into ropes and 

 sent to town for purposes of decoration. 



[NOTE : — Besides the ferns mentioned above, Britton's Catalogue of the 

 New Jersey Flora gives Asplenium platyneuron, Dryopteris acrostichoides 

 and Botrychium ternatum as found throughout the State. This would of 

 course include the region of the Pines, but I do not seem to have noticed 

 them in my excursions.— C. F. S.] 



It is said that Blechnum spicant grows nearer to the north 

 pole than any other known fern. It gets its common name of 

 deer fern from the fact that reindeer eat it. This species is also 

 called jointed-pod fern, from the shape of the fertile fronds. 



