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although I remembered the exact locality. So closely did it re- 

 semble the grass stubble that one who was not looking for it 

 would never have seen it, and there were no signs of fruit except 

 some problematical, dead, black bunches on the ends of the stems, 

 but these had been present in the spring also. 



The next year I resolved to keep a close watch on it until I 

 caught the fruit. I began searching almost as soon as the snow 

 was off and was rewarded by an abundance of perfect fruit, which 

 was at its prime during the last week of April, contemporary 

 with the anemone and dog-tooth violet. The fruiting buds are 

 formed the season before and remain at the apex of the stems as a 

 dense, black knob which stretches up and expands into spore- 

 bearing spikes late in April. Some of these buds abort and have 

 been mistaken for fruit. Good fruit appears to have been very 

 rare. I have never seen any except that collected by myself. 



I am aware that none of the books give date of fruiting as 

 earlier than the second week in. May, My plants were collected 

 in northern Vermont, where the season is from one to two weeks 

 later than in Boston. It has also been collected in fruit as early 

 as April 28, at Rochester, N. Y., by M. S. Baxter. In my opinion 

 the best time of all the year for searching for this plant is as soon 

 as the snow is off the ground in spring. It will be found in fruit 

 a week or two later. — A. J. Grout, Plymouth, N. H. 



PELUEA ATROPURPUREA IN CULTIVATION. 



IN the Dolobran Wild Garden, on the estate of C. A. Griscom, 

 Esq., at Haverford, Pa., the most important feature is the 

 presence of two old building-stone quarries transformed into 

 model gardens for native plants. Crevices in the rock walls were 

 plentiful, as were also the spaces between the rough stone used 

 for steps at various points. For planting in these fissures numer- 

 ous species of plants were used, but it is my purpose to speak here 

 only of the use of Pella^a atropurpurea in the work. 



This fern was found growing between the heavy stone used for 

 abutments to a railway bridge over a road. No plants were found 

 in the immediate vicinity of this place; in fact the fern has not 

 been noticed in any other spot in this locality, which has been 

 fairly well searched for other species of plants. Moreover, not a 

 single specimen could be found on the opposing wall of the bridge, 

 but little over a rod distant. How the fern ever became estab- 



