— ro5— 



scarce. Little Falls, Paine; Adirondacks. Professor Peck; Wash- 

 ington Heights, W. W. Denslow. Plentiful in the extreme south- 

 east, Clute. 



FERIWORT NOTES-IV. 



By Willard N. Clute. 



Nephrodium Molle in Florida— Mr. James H. Ferriss re- 

 cently called my attention to specimens of Nephrodium molle re- 

 ceived from Florida with the suggestion that this species might 

 be native to the State. On this point, Reasoner Brothers, the 

 well-known plant dealers, have written him that they no longer 

 grow the fern since it is abundant in a wild state and easily ob- 

 tained when wanted. There seems to be no reason why the 

 species should not occur in Florida, since Nephrodium patens, 

 a close ally, is common there; but as N. Molle is not listed 

 from the United States, we publish this note in the hope of 

 drawing out further information about it and of ascertaining if 

 possible whether Molle is actually native, or only a well natural- 

 ized escape. Superficially, molle and patens are so very much 

 alike that it is very easy to confuse them. The venation, however, 

 is a sufficiently distinct feature. In patens the basal veins in 

 each pinnule run to the sinus, uniting at. or just below, it; in 

 molle they unite at some distance from the sinus from whence 

 a single vein runs to the sinus. According to Jenman, patens 

 has a creeping horizontal rootstock with the fronds arranged in 

 two lines along it, while molle has an erect rootstock. The 

 fronds of the latter are also softer and thinner. 



Naturalization of an Exotic Fern. — Records of ferns be- 

 coming naturalized in new regions are very rare. Ptcris semdata 

 is probably our most conspicuous American example, having 

 been found as an escape in several places, while it is known to 

 grow abundantly on old walls in New Orleans. I have also re- 

 ported the occurrence in the same place, of an abundance of 

 Ptcris longifolia previously known in the United States from 

 Florida alone. In the Fern Bulletin for January, 1898, mention 

 is made of fronds af Pteris trcmula seventeen inches high col- 

 lected from the walls of a tunnel in New York City, and the 

 same article mentions a Japanese species of Athyrium that has 



