— SO— 



fern students is the group formerly known under the collective 

 name of Selaginella rupestris. After seeing the Southern Cali- 

 fornian and Floridan development of this plant I was convinced, 

 as field study alone can thoroughly convince one, that S. rupes- 

 tris was a composite species, a conclusion readily reached after 

 the accumulation of a wide range of variations in herbarium 

 specimens. A preliminary study* of the material at hand re- 

 sulted in the publication of several species with suggestions of 

 more of which available material was too scanty. Dr. Rydberg 

 added another species from his field study in Montana, and Mr. 

 Eaton still another, which, however, proved to be a re-description 

 of an older one of Nuttall — a suggestion that, in addition to 

 careful field study, it is necessary also to see the types of other 

 people. It may be over- cautiousness, but unless a growing plant 

 has been seen, I hesitate to describe it as new without an abun- 

 dance of material, or unless its characters are so striking as to 

 permit of no question. Others have not the same caution, for 

 Dr. Hieronymus of Berlin, probably the best informed German 

 fern student of the day, has recently made a study of S. rupes- 

 tris from the whole world, in which he separates twenty-six 

 additional species! Of these, ten are from the United States, 

 besides S. Fendleri, which he raises to specific rank from my 

 proposed variety. And to my knowledge there is less American 

 material bearing on the subject in the Royal Museum in Berlin 

 than there is in my own herbarium or in any one of at least 

 three public American herbaria. As this publication] is not ac- 

 cessible to the greater number of our fern students, it will not be 

 out of place to summarize the work of Dr. Hieronymus as far 

 as our own species are concerned, especially since Mr. Maxon has 

 omitted them from his list, His species are: i. S. Schmidt 'ii, 

 Unalaska, a.n&va.v.Krauseorum, Alaska; 2. 5. Montanensis, Mon- 

 tana; 3. S. Engetmanni, Colorado (Empire City); 4. S. Bour- 

 geauii, Oregon; 5. S. Haydeni, Oregon, Nebraska; 6 S. Wallacei, 

 "Oregon," but probably collected within the limits of what is 

 now Washington; 7. S. Wright ii, New Mexico; 8. S. Bolanderi\ 

 California (Auburn) ; 9. S. Hanseni, California (Amador, Cala- 

 veras, Alameda, and Fresno counties); 10. S. Sartor ii, var. Ore- 

 gonensis," Oregon," but probably collected within the limits 

 of what is now Washington. 



*Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club, 25: 225-133. 1898. 

 tHedwigia, 39: 299-320. 1900. 



