— 6— 



very social, the bogs where they are uncoiling in late May are 

 noticeably tinged with a warm blush of color. Sometimes the 

 whole expanded frond, at that early season, is suffused with a 

 crimson tone, paling through evanescent browns and reds and 

 orange, until the persisting green is reached. 

 Philadelphia. 



[Mr. Saunders' entertaining and suggestive notes do not ex- 

 haust the list of our common ferns that enter the world clad in 

 colors other than green. The Lady fern {Athyrium fili.x-fwmina) 

 begins life in a combination of pink and pale yellow; the Royal 

 fern {Osmunda regalis) has a wine colored stipe beneath its cloak 

 of light-brown wool, and the fruiting pinnules of the Interrupted 

 fern (O. Clayton/ana) are ashy green, almost black, before they 

 take on their better-known color. The unrolling blade of the 

 Royal fern, too, presents a beautiful contrast between the 

 ochraceous young pinme and the deep green spore' cases, which 

 they still half conceal. No doubt other instances will be recalled 

 to mind by the attentive student. — Ed.] 



NOMENCLATURE AND VARIETIES. 



HOW shall we distinguish by nomenclature a true variety from 

 an occasional variation ? Such is the substance of Mr. 

 Clute's question in the October issue of The Fern Bulle- 

 tin. The method of indicating a variety is already fixed, viz., by 

 a trinomial. I hardly like his suggestion of using the word 

 varietas to distinguish the other. That word has a definite 

 meaning and is really understood in the case of a trinomial. The 

 Germans have a sensible way of distinguishing specimens which 

 vary from the normal and yet are not permanent varieties. They 

 use the word forma, a form, generally abbreviated to the letter 

 /, which indicates that a certain form is often found, but may 

 occur on the same plant with normal fronds, or may be found on 

 a plant this year but not next year, or is a form of early spring or 

 of late fall, and so on. These forms differ from the normal and 

 are distinct enough to be recognized by one who knows them, or 

 even to mislead a person who does not. Hence it is desirable 

 that they should be designated by a definite name and described. 

 Take the case of Osmunda cinnamonea f. frondosa, which Mr. 

 Clute cites, or Equisetum hiemale f. autumnale, the late-growing 

 form which sends out branches from the upper nodes. Everybody 

 knows that these are only occasional forms, not permanent varie- 

 ties, and it is right that the names given to them should indicate 

 this. 



