THE FERN BULLETIN 



23 



ferns by other than sexual processes, and seems con- 

 fined to this single species in our fern flora. 



Spore-bearixg in the Crest Fern. — Besides those 

 ferns which have their vegetative and spore-producing 

 fronds separate, such as the cinnamon fern ( Osmunda 

 cinnamomea) and the curly-grass (Schicaea pusilla), 

 there are many others that have the two functions more 

 or less restricted to separate fronds. Thus in many 

 of the Nephrodiums the spore-bearing fronds are nar- 

 rower than those which are sterile, but the presence of 

 green tissue shows that even the fertile fronds aid in 

 the vegetative work of the plant. One of the most 

 conspicuous examples of the differentiation that has 

 taken place between the two sorts of fronds is found 

 in N. cristatum where the fertile are not only narrower 

 but are taller more erect and not so long lived. The 

 sterile spread out on the earth and last through the 

 winter, while the fertile seldom do so. That the sep- 

 aration of the two is not so fixed as one might be in- 

 clined to infer, however, is shown by a frond recently 

 sent from Ktttztown, Pa., by C. L. Gruber. In this, al- 

 though the frond is manifestly a sterile one in form, it 

 is quite well supplied with sporangia. 



Writings of Alva it H. Eatox. — In Rhodora for 

 December 190S, Miss M. A. Day published a list of the 

 writings of the late A. A. Eaton, consisting of 52 titles 

 covering a period of about ten years — the period in 

 which the study of our ferns has proceeded with the 

 greatest activity. The majority of Mr. Eaton's con- 

 tributions to science appeared in the Fern Bulletin, but 

 he also published in Rhodora. Torrey Bulletin and 

 Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 

 In the same number of Rhodora also appears a tribute 



