-78— 



it. On the side toward the rise of ground there was a ledge of 

 rock which rose about twenty feet above the pool. This ledge 

 was not perpendicular, but sloped inward from the upper edge 

 and thus overhung the pool, making it difficult to gather anything 

 from it except where the plants grew on the overhanging edge. 

 The ledge was perhaps forty of fifty feet long, and plenty of the 

 fern grew in the crevices, but not much of it was obtainable 

 without a boat. It was very thrifty and of fairly good size, but 

 none of it was as large as some of my Bermuda specimens. 



Let me point out briefly some of the distinctions between A. 

 muticum and its allies. From A. Trichomanes it is easy to dis- 

 tinguish it at once by the shape of its pinnae. In A. Trichomanes 

 the pinnae are always cuneate-based and centrally attached : in 

 A. muticum they are broadly oblong and attached to the rachis 

 at the lower side of the truncate base. The alliance with A. 

 parvulum is closer, but there is no difficulty in distinguishing 

 between them. A, parvulum, as known in the Eastern States, 

 has long, narrow, somewhat tapering pinnae, which on the upper 

 two-thirds of frond are exactly opposite each other and are more 

 or less auricled on the upper side at base. The lower pinnae are 

 much reduced in size, deltoid, and more or less reflexed. The 

 edges also are always entire. As opposed to this, A. muticum 

 has oblong, blunt edged pinnae which are always eremite on the 

 upper and outer edges and seldom possess more than a suspicion 

 of an auricle. 



In Hooker's Species Filicum, Asplenium parvulum, M. & G., 

 and A. resiliens Kze. are placed under A. ebeneum Ait. as "Var. 

 minus." There is some question whether these two ferns aie 

 the same, as Hooker seems to indicate. The figure published by 

 Martens & Galeotti would do very well for our eastern form, 

 but neither in size, shape of pinnae or situation of sori does it 

 accord with the so-called parvulum of Jamaica or of Arizona. 

 The latter have the pinnae generally retrorse, and the sori, instead 

 of being situated close to the costae, are numerous and lie close 

 to the edges, leaving a space between the two rows. This is a 

 feature which Mr. G. S. Jenman notices in his description of A. 

 parvulum, but there is nothing to indicate that he knows A. resi- 

 liens. Prof. Eaton notes under A. parvulum that "Specimens 



