72 



THE FERN BULLETIN 



gatum collected by Mr. W. A. Poyser at Middletown, 

 Pa. The species here grows in quantity on a hillside 

 sloping down to a boggy meadow, and the specimens 

 show a regular gradation from the hill-top downward. 

 In the short grass in drier ground, specimens in full 

 fruit, and only five inches high were collected. In the 

 swamp close by, however, there were specimens more 

 than sixteen inches long. But the mere height was 

 not the most interesting feature of the plants. The 

 sterile lamina in some cases had taken on new forms, 

 and had these, alone, been sent to some of our ambi- 

 tious species makers they would undoubtedly have re- 

 ceived a new specific name. Happening with the us- 

 ual form, they are readily seen to be the usual species 

 modified by environment. In some of the specimens 

 collected the sterile lamina is eight inches long and 

 less than three quarters of an inch wide, and may well 

 be called variety lanceolatwm. These latter specimens 

 were taken from the boggy ground at the base of the 

 slope where they occurred amidst the rank growth of 

 vegetation that is found in such places. The elongated 

 sterile portion was undoubtedly caused by the efforts 

 of the plant to stretch up to the light, but this simply 

 emphasizes the statement made at the beginning of 

 this article, that the species is strongly affected by its 

 habitat. 



RARE FORMS OF FERNWORTS.-XIX 



'Blechnum spicant eipinnatum. 

 In superficial characteristics the deer fern (Blech- 

 num spicant) is very much like the ebony fern (As- 

 pleninm ebeneum), and seems inclined to vary in 

 much the same way. In Europe where the deer fern 

 is not rare, a great number of crested, forked and 

 laciniated forms have been discovered, but so far as 



