-8 3 - 



once. It could be distinguished at a glance from Dryopteris 

 thelypteris, which grew with it, by the habit its fertile fronds have 

 of drooping somewhat, making a more graceful plant. Although 

 the fern was fruiting abundantly, it was exceedingly difficult to 

 find good specimens because of the ravages of a small worm that 

 eats the spores and spins a web over the pinnas as he goes. 



NOTES. 



— Under the title of "A Plea for Preservation," Miss Harriet 

 Wheeler contributes to the July Plant World a timely article 

 upon the carelessness of collectors in rooting out rare plants in 

 order to make a show with their collections. Mention is made of 

 a locality for the climbing fern, near Hunter, N. Y., which was 

 entirely destroyed to gratify the desires of the " summer boarder." 



— The formation of a Moss Chapter will add another to the list 

 of Correspondence Chapters so popular in the Agassiz Associa- 

 tion. There is scarcely a natural science that has not a Chapter 

 of this kind for its study. Botany, Geology, Entomology, Orni- 

 thology and others are represented, and if the student finds none 

 of these to his liking, he can still join the association as a cor- 

 responding member, where he will be put in communication with 

 many students with similar tastes, or, better, he may form a local 

 Chapter in his own town. The Corresponding Chapters have 

 official organs of their own. The official organ for the Associa- 

 tion at large is Popular Science News, and short articles for this 

 are desired. All communications regarding the Association 

 should be addressed to Mr. H. H. Ballard, President of the Agassiz 

 Association, Pittsfield, Mass. Membership in any one of the Cor- 

 responding Chapters makes one a member of the main Association. 



— In the Jo2ir?ial of Botany for August, iSgS, figures of Botry- 

 chium matricariefolium and B. lanceolatum are given, and the 

 accompanying text claims for them a place in the British Flora. 

 The chief claim for matricartefolium rests on a somewhat doubt- 

 ful species collected "on the sandy sea-shore of Stevenston, Ayr- 

 shire, in July, 1897." The plant was subsequently mislaid and 

 afterwards brought to light from its resting place inside of an old 

 catalogue. B. matricartefolium has long had a half- recognized 

 right to a place among British plants, having several times been 

 figured or described as a variety of B. lunaria. It is also reported 

 to have been frequently confused with the continental B. rutaceum. 



