OPHIOGLOSSUMS RESTING. 



THE query of Mr. Crawford, in the January Bulletin, as to 

 whether Ophioglossums rest for a season, recalls to my 

 mind some of my experiences with Ophioglossum vulga- 

 tum, the facts of which may serve to confirm his observation. 



During the Summer of '96 Mr. W. R. Maxon and myself dis- 

 covered a patch of Adder* s-tongues south of Oneida, N. Y. Here 

 they grew in such abundance that many were trodden upon at 

 every step. In the succeeding Summer of '97 I visited the spot 

 several times, and though they were by no means as plentiful as 

 during the former year, yet I had no difficulty in finding large 

 numbers of them. In the Summer of '98 they were even more 

 plentiful than ever, but during the past Summer I revisited the spot 

 to obtain some new specimens and to my surprise could not find 

 half a dozen perfect specimens, where a year before they could 

 have been counted by the hundreds. 



Whether this lapse of a season in the plant's abundant appear- 

 ance is due to an inheritant characteristic of the plant, or from 

 external causes, such as a season either too wet or too dry, or 

 from the stinging of the young shoot by insects, has yet, I think, 

 to be ascertained. It may be purely accidental, but it is worth 

 while to discover whether it is or not. — Homer D. House, Syra- 

 cuse, N. Y, 



SOME WASHINGTON FERNS. 



Bv J. B Flett. 



THE common brake is very large and abundant here. It 

 reaches away above one's head and in favored localities it 

 is difficult to get through them. The rootstocks are very 

 troublesome to the farmer when the land is new. Our variety is 

 much larger than the eastern form. The next in abundance is 

 Dryopteris munita. This also grows very large, especially in 

 our "fir" forests. It maybe collected in fruit almost any month 

 of the year. Lomaria spicant grows in about the same habitat, 

 but the fruiting fronds are hard to find after Christmas. These 

 evergreen ferns together with Berberis nervosa and B. aqui- 

 folium and Gaultheria Shallon give the forests here a semi- 

 tropical appearance. Adiantum pedaium grows very luxuriant 

 and may be found in a flourishing condition where it is protected. 

 Woodwardia radicans, though seen in only two limited localities, 

 attains a height of seven feet by actual measurement. 



