SANDSTONE HABITATS OF PELLAEA. 



Referring to the localities for Pcllaca gracilis in the April 

 number, I would note that in Wisconsin this fern haunts two 

 sandstone bluffs that I know of in the county of Juneau. Both 

 face the north, but one juts out into the valley of the Lemon 

 river, where a boulder is broken a few feet apart from the main 

 bluff. This bowlder was covered with Pcllaca gracilis until a 

 great flock of sheep were turned into the place to feed off 

 everything. I found just three left in August, of 1896. The 

 other spot is in one of the deep glens of the Big Creek, a branch 

 of the Baraboo. Here they covered the face of the sandstone 

 rocks above the shelving places. I think that as there is little 

 limestone in Wisconsin the ferns substitute sandstone. — Mrs. A. 

 E. Goetting, Hyde Park, Cincinnati, Ohio. 



THE GENERA IN ASPIDIEAE 



That section of the ferns which has afforded the most puzzles 

 for the student and provoked the greatest discussions among the 

 systematists is undoubtedly the Aspidieae. All too frequently the 

 arrangement of the plants into genera has been made in an ar- 

 bitrary manner. In a most excellent paper in the Torrey Bulle- 

 tin for March, Prof. Underwood begins a survey of the matter 

 by considering the characters upon which a proper classification 

 is founded ; for the question of generic names is closely bound up 

 with that of generic characters. It is needless to say that the rules 

 for applying fern names may be interpreted in various ways 

 Prof. Underwood's paper is a clear presentation of the facts in 

 the case, so far as the origin and application of the various names 

 is concerned. It has often been pointed out in the Fern Bulle- 

 tin, however, that we want names that we can anchor to, regard- 

 less as to whether they are correctly applied or not. We would 

 be perfectly willing to adopt Pref. Underwood's names if certain 

 no more changes would be made. The subjoined key taken from 

 the paper in the Torrey Bulletin, will be of interest as showing 

 Prof. Underwood's idea of the correct names. The genera in 

 Italic are not represented in America but are included to round 

 out the key. 



