92 



THE FERN BULLETIN 



The plants were growing in the open sun in 

 a sandy spot along a railway embankment 

 and ranged in size from half inch specimens to those 

 several inches high. The related species of Bo- 

 trychium do not fruit until mid-summer at least, but 

 all the plants collected were in full fruit. Possibly the 

 very early season may have influenced this. In the 

 smaller specimens the sterile segment was a mere green 

 flap, in the largest it was divided into pinnae. Great 

 variation was also shown in the position of this sterile 

 part and the possession of a petiole. An extensive 

 series of specimens was secured designed to show 

 these variations with the intention of publishing a 

 series of drawings in this magazine. Unfortunately, 

 an unbotanical janitor who cannot distinguish between 

 a weed and a botanical rarity, made away with all the 

 specimens except one. When the loss was discovered 

 it was too late to secure more specimens, but since the 

 plants were abundant at the station named it is hoped 

 to secure a more complete set next year. 



In view of the questions recently raised by Mr. 

 Dodge (this magazine, pages 33-43) it may be noted 

 that for a long time all the small Botrychiums in 

 America were referred to Botrychium simplex and, as 

 Prof. Eaton remarked in "North American Ferns," 

 some of the variability noted in its description may 

 be due to the fact that this may have been drawn to 

 cover the whole range of plants. As it is, simplex 

 is variable enough and Milde in his monograph named 

 no less than six varieties, viz.: Simplicimus, incisum, 

 subcomposi,tum, compositum, angustum and fallax. It 

 was Prof. Wood, author of "Wood's Class-book of 

 Botany, who first separated the plant we now know as 

 B. matricariaefolium or B. ramosum from this het- 



