THE FERN BULLETIN 



Vol. XVII OCTOBER, 1909 No. 4 



MOUNTAIN SPLEENWORT IN 

 NORTH-EASTERN OHIO 



BY ERNEST W. VICKERS. 



In June, 1893, during one of his early excursions in 

 Mahoning county, the writer was so fortunate as to 

 discover a new station for that rare Ohio fern the 

 mountain spleenwort. The county is one of the north- 

 eastern Ohio counties, known as the Highland counties 

 and belongs to the Alleghanian life zone. The matter 

 was allowed to rest without publication until the ex- 

 tent of the fern's local distribution might be ascer- 

 tained. Thus far. however, the station has proven to 

 be confined to a solitary, gigantic, river-eroded rock 

 — a sort of stone island, shaped not unlike the body of 

 a huge unwieldly canal-boat or, better, like Noah's 

 ark. This unique and interesting mass of sandstone 

 stands in the Mahoning river which gives the county 

 its name in Berlin township near Shilling's Mill. 



The geologist finds in this isolated rock interesting 

 material for study in the line of dynamic force and 

 time. Originally a peninsular prolongation of a sand- 

 stone ridge or "hog's back'' the river sweeping in on 

 one side and a tributary stream on the other finally 

 cut it loose from the main land. And there it stands 

 one of the most picturesque pieces of water statuary 



<^>in the whole valley of the Mahoning. 



22 "Standing Rock" is known for many miles around 



