THE FERN BULLETIN 



VOL. IX. JANUARY, 1901. NO. 1. 



THE STORY OF A FERN HUNT. 



By George D. Hulst. 



IN the spring of 1885 I was a delegate to a church convention 

 held in Syracuse, N. Y. There I met a lady who was an en- 

 thusiastic lover of ferns. It goes without saying that I was 

 told of the exceeding richness of that region in these forms of 

 plant life. Scolopendrium was upon her lips very often, and that 

 was a glorious day when, with her, I visited Scolopendrium Lake. 

 But there was another fern which was, if possible, of even greater 

 interest — Botrychium lunaria. About three members of the 

 Syracuse Botanical Club knew its locality, and they would reveal 

 the secret to no others. And, just think of it — two of these were 

 ladies ! Many searches had been made by eager enthusiasts, so I 

 was told, but the secret place had not revealed itself. 



,1 was so discourteous as to laugh at the unfortunates, and so 

 conceited as to declare it as my belief that any one who had time 

 and persistence could find the station if he desired. I was chal- 

 lenged at once to prove my words, and I accepted the challenge. 

 I took my next vacation during July at the village of Jamesville, 

 about six miles south of Syracuse, and close by Scolopendrium 

 Lake. I read up the history of the fern as it grows in Europe so 

 as to know where to look and what to look for, and when I arrived 

 at Jamesville I began a regular and systematic tramp in as nearly 

 as might be parallel lines over the "area of certainty," a tract of 

 country of not more than five miles square in area. The parallel 

 lines were not far distant from each other, and the whole tract was 

 thus thoroughly covered. It was tramp, tramp, over cliffs, through 

 bogs, up and down steep slopes, along the banks of brooks and 

 the edges of precipices. I found plenty of other good things, 

 among others the only specimens of Pellcca stelleri ever found 

 there, so I was told; a new station for Scolopendrium, with the 

 largest and loveliest of fronds; most beautiful specimens of 

 Cystopteris bulbifera, one of them forked ; Camptosorus in end- 

 less quantity, one with four steps in its walking habit; all these 

 and more, but no Botrychium, 



