HELPS FOR THE BEGINNER." 



V. — The Quillworts. 



FROM now until autumn closes the collecting season, the stu- 

 dent of the fern allies should be on the lookout for quill- 

 worts (Isoeics.) All who have ever dabbled in the study of 

 the higher cryptogams have some sort of a hazy idea of what a 

 quillwort is like, but comparatively few have ever collected them 

 or would know exactly what to look for if desirous of finding 



them. They are such in- 

 conspicuous little plants 

 and mimic so well the 

 small rushes and other 

 water plants among 

 which they grow, that 

 many a collector feels 

 confident that they do 

 not exist in his locality, 

 though it is quite likely 

 they are to be found by 

 careful search. If after 

 several years collecting 

 he suddenly stumbles upon them, he half believes that they, too, 

 " possess the recipe for fern seed" and "walk invisible" when 

 they choose. 



Even if they do not possess supernatural powers there is still 

 much that is mysterious about them. Their distribution is a puz- 

 zle. In some sections, as in the New England States, every pool 

 seems liable to the charge of harboring a different species; while 

 in other parts, although the mud is as soft and the sand as clear, 

 not a species has yet been reported. Then the question arises, are 

 the plants really absent or merely overlooked, but it cannot be 

 answered until collectors have made a more diligent search for 

 them. 



A quillwort may be described as a rosette of slender, pointed 

 leaves from two to six inches long, growing under water. Other 

 water plants also have their submerged leaves in rosettes, but the 

 quillworts are easily distinguished from all others by the fact that 

 each leaf is hollowed out at base on the inner side and bears in 

 the hollow an oblong mass of spores. Those in the outer circles of 



* Begun in July, 1900. This series will include all the American ferns. 



