— 5— 



The story of John Williamson's life points a moral worth 

 remembering. Let his appreciative friend again speak for him: 

 " The manhood into which he carved his own life was even more 

 marvelous than the handiwork which he has left to beautify the 

 world. If I could make his life, now ended, reach even further; 

 if I could, by the recital of his hardships and bravery, encourage 

 some other one to battle earnestly against odds, I shall be grate- 

 ful. He did his work well. He has left the world better for his 

 having lived, and each of us can do as much." 



WOODSIA ALPINA 



By Willard W. Eggleston. 



THIS very rare fern was first found in the United States at 

 Willoughby Mt., Vermont, by *C. G. Prirgle in 1876. 

 Later he found it in Smuggler's Notch and Nebraska 

 Notch, Mt. Mansfield, and on the north peak (chin) of Mansfield. 

 Since then it has been collected in the Adirondacks. In June, 

 1894, Prof. F. A. Balch, then a student at Dartmouth, found what 

 was called Woodsia glabella at Quechee Gulf, Vt. We saw a 

 number of specimens of this collection in Prof. H G. Jessup's her- 

 barium and also some collected later by the Rev. J. A. Bates, all 

 of which were glabella. This summer we have seen the plants in 

 Balch's herbarium, and much to our surprise, most of them were 

 excellent alpina. 



Alpina, as we have known it both at Willoughby and Mans- 

 field, is at great elevations. Probably the lowest elevation is at 

 Willoughby, at about 2,500 feet. At Mansfield we have never 

 seen it much below 3,000 feet, and it is found clear to the summit 

 cf the chin at 4,300 feet, in fact, the highest, most inaccessible 

 cliffs, both at Willoughby and Mansfield, are the typical places to 

 expect alpina. Who would look for it at a lower latitude and an 

 elevation of 600 feet ? 



This shy fern, seen by so few of our botanists, has always 

 been badly confused with glabella. Many of our good botanists 

 collect both, thinking they have nothing but this species. Alpina, 

 however, has a black or brownish rachis, with scattering palea- 

 ceous hairs, while that of glabella is entirely smooth and green. 



*See C. G. Pringle's "Botanical Rambles in Vermont," Bull. Torr. 

 Bot. Club, July, 1897. 



