THE FERN BULLETIN 



43 



I have come to think then that B. ramosum is in all 

 probability a polymorphic plant. Breathe ever so 

 lightly on a matured s>pike and its spores drift away 

 like dust. Driven miles away perhaps by the wind, 

 they finally fall by the roadside, or in stony places, and 

 come to naught : or they are carried into the lowland, 

 where conditions are suitable for germination but not 

 for protracted growth, and so the resulting plants are 

 killed by the winter's frost, or they fly to the hill tops, 

 remaining dormant perhaps until the needful amount 

 of moisture causes them to germinate and the plants 

 to vegetate, until they are dried up by the summer 

 heat, and a few eventually find an environment, where 

 they can not only germinate, but where also the ensu- 

 ing plants can form a continuous growth, and such as 

 these perpetuate the species. 



Nezvburyport, Mass. 



THE PHILIPPINE PEDATE BRACKEN. 



Doryoptcris Ludens. 



By Willard N. Clute. 



In studying the ferns of any particular region, we 

 seldom find the different species so much alike that it 

 is hard to separate them ; nor do we commonly have 

 much trouble with the genera. All seem distinct 

 enough and we commonly place a newly discovered 

 species in its genus with considerable certainty. But 

 the farther our studies extend, and the larger our 

 group of species becomes, the greater becomes our 

 difficulty in defining the genera. In most parts of 

 North America the genus Pteris seems one of the most 

 distinctly marked of plant groups to the beginner, but 

 as soon as he enters the tropics he becomes amazed at 



