THE FERN BULLETIN 



VOL. VII. JANUARY, 1899. NO. 1. 



LIBRARY 



YOUNG HART'S-TONGUES AT GREEN LAKE. NEW YORK 



By Will R. Maxon. 'BOTANICAL 



MY interest in the rare Hart's-tongue fern {Phyllitis scolope^^^^^ 4 ^ 

 drz'um),was much increased some time ago by the dis- 

 covery of great numbers of prothalli and of plants in all the 

 younger stages of growth at Green Lake, two miles east of James- 

 ville, N. Y. This locality is both interesting and picturesque. 

 The lake, less than a mile in circumference, is walled about on 

 three sides by precipitous cliffs that tower above it two hundred 

 feet and more, but bordered on its fourth or north side by a low- 

 lying meadow. It thus appears very like a great harbor. The 

 surrounding cliff, together with its talus which is so extensive 

 that it forms a steep slope from near the top almost to the water's 

 edge, forms a great U. The greater portion is sparsely wooded 

 with cedars, basswoods, beeches and scraggly sumacs ; but near 

 the base of the U, the steep slope seems some time to have been 

 cleared of forest growth, and here, strangely enough, the Hart's- 

 tongue grows, well up on the cliff and invariably in the debris of 

 the corniferous limestone. 



This station is the most exposed of any in central Xew York. 

 The mature plants deprived of shade seem to have deteriorated 

 for they have turned an unusual light green and are rather under- 

 sized, frond and stipe rarely measuring more than a foot in length. 

 But prothalli and young plants occur in abundance and thrive 

 despite the absolute dearth of protective covering and the conse- 

 quent severe exposure in both summer and winter. Their place 

 of growth, however, stands them in good stead. The rock frag- 

 ments are course and roughly jagged and lie loosely protruding 

 over one another, their interstices making any number of minia- 

 ture caves wherein our young Hart's-tongues may grow. Here, 

 away from the light, and always on the damp film of rich, black soil 

 which everywhere coats the rocks when they have lain undisturbed 

 for a time, prothalli and young plants grow in more abundance. 



The prothalli, unusually thin and fragile in texture, are dark 

 green. Generally their shape is squarish rather than cordate or 



