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sist of a tangle of leather-leaf, pale laurel, sphagnum and other 

 semi-aquatic vegetation which form a thin crust, often less than a 

 foot thick, over bottomless mud. Walking over this surface is 

 something of a hazardous undertaking. At every step it 

 trembles and sinks as if about to give way and an incautious 

 move may cause one to drop out of sight forever. 



The plants were found growing in a more open place in the 

 midst of this tangle, at first hardly to be distinguished from 

 the sphagnum by which they were surrounded. As the eye be- 

 came more accustomed to singling out the specimens, they ap- 

 peared to be plentiful, the erect fruiting part being most notice- 

 able. In appearance they are nearest to L. Carolinianum and 

 are scarcely taller. The sterile part, however, does not cling so 

 closely to the earth, but usually rises slightly at base and de- 

 scribes a short semi circle downward. The fruiting spikes are 

 also more robust and leafy. Full grown spikes, however, are 

 often barely an inch high with sterile portion scarcely longer. In 

 large plants the sterile part is frequently branched once or twice. 



South of our plant's range there grows a species which is 

 often mistaken for it, but the two are not likely to be confused by 

 those who have collected both. The southern one is a taller and 

 heavier plant and is the one recently named L. adpressum. 



'HOUGH the purpose of The Fern Bulletin is more in the 



interest of the anatomy and ecology of the fern rather than 



its cultivation, yet the experience of a friend while com- 

 batting a fern enemy seems to me to be of sufficient interest to 

 deserve mention. 



Mrs. Julia M. Hunter, 62 W. 93d St., New York, who had fine 

 plants of A. filix-foemina and greenhouse ferns in her bay- 

 window, found them suffering from some unknown cause. In- 

 vestigation showed that the roots were infested with an insect 

 that on more careful study proved to be the podurid. All efforts 

 to exterminate the pest resulted in failure. A solution of tobacco 

 only served to stupify them for a time. The insect without doubt 

 feeds on cryptogamous plants as well as the waste in the soil. 

 The plants were transplanted into fresh soil, the roots carefully 

 washed and sprayed with tobacco water. A five-inch flower pot 



A FERN ENEMY. 



By Sadie F. Price. 



