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were rooting in the thin soil, Some were quite far in and it was 

 necessary to reach into the hollow space to get them. Those near 

 Lemont were on the sides of rocks, growing in moss and earth 

 that had lodged on the steep slopes or been formed by the de- 

 composing rock and vegetable matter, making a soft and rather 

 rich bed for the slender rootstocks. They were accompanied by 

 a generous growth of Cystopteris bulbifera and a couple of Liver- 

 worts, Aster el la hemispherica and Marchantia polymorpha, the 

 two latter mostly on barer portions of the rock. All four plants 

 were nicely fruiting on a second visit to the locality in June. At 

 Lemont it was an exposure of the rocks to the southwest, at Kan- 

 kakee to the southeast, so that they were in line with the direct 

 rays of the sun for a large part of the day, but were shaded by 

 the trees or by the opposite ledge. 

 Chicago. 



ISOETES HOWELLII AND ISOETES NUTTALLI. 



By Alvah A. Eaton. 



NO satisfactory description of this variable species has 

 been printed, so great confusion prevails regarding it. 

 Engelmann had only very immature material, hence his 

 mistake in describing nuda. The velum is very variable, usually 

 narrow in the outer, and wide in the inner leaves. The sporangia 

 are usually thickly spotted, and even shining black over the whole 

 front and back surfaces, and in both kinds of sporangia; again 

 they are nearly unspotted. In immature plants the schlerenchyma 

 cells though present are usually uncolored. The ligula also varies 

 from very short to very long. I find all the foregoing characters 

 among duplicate type material from The Dalles. 



The bast-bundles vary, as in most amphibise, according to the 

 condition of the plant. Usually four, they at times are reduced 

 to one or two ; and, on the other hand, there is occasionally an 

 accessory one in front. The species bears several resemblances 

 to Engehnanni in appearance, bast-bundles, method of growth, 

 etc. It is truly amphibious, growing in shallow water and on 

 muddy banks, ditches, etc., after the water has gone. 



I have as yet seen no good Underwcodz, but Henderson's 

 description fits this exactly. It appears to be abundantly scat- 

 tered over northern California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho, 

 most abundant in the Columbia River basin. 



