THE FERX BULLETIN 



101 



nal shield fern, and even Goldie's fern were only forms 

 of the more widely distributed species, but even those 

 conservative fern students who are said to have diffi- 

 culty in distinguishing a fern from a carrot, protested 

 with much vigor and loquacity — especially the latter — 

 against such summary proceedings. 



The center of distribution for the male fern appears 

 to be somewhere in northern Eurasia from whence it 

 has spread to the colder parts of North America as 

 well as tropic-ward along the mountains to the Hy- 

 malayas, the East Indies, the Hawiian Islands, The 

 Azores, Cape Colony, Peru and many points between. 

 Such a varied sweep of country has of course caused 

 considerable variation in the plant to the great delight 

 of the species makers who have tagged all of the varie- 

 ties with specific names and have further enriched fern 

 literature by divers animadversions concerning their 

 specific validity as well as their opinion of the mental 

 ability of anybody who opined otherwise. 



The male fern is not uncommon in parts of Canada, 

 but in the United States it has been found only oc- 

 casionally. In the east it strays across the border into 

 Vermont, and Michigan, and in the west, following the 

 elevated country it has penetrated as far as Arizona 

 and California. It has been occasionally reported from 

 Ohio, Pennsylvania and other States, but the reports 

 are very evidently due to immature fronds or immature 

 collectors, perhaps both. Like Dr. Christ, the col- 

 lectors have failed to distinguish between two very 

 good species. The superficial resemblance of the male 

 fern to the lady fern is quite as marked as its similarity 

 to the marginal shield fern. When really found, how- 

 ever, it needs no very careful inspection to discover 

 that it is different from either. There is much- likeli- 

 hood that it will be found at other points in our range, 



