- 5 8- 



leaves are the largest and are called the macrospores ; those nearer 

 the centre are smaller and called microspores. These spore 

 masses make the base of the plant very thick and bulb-like. There 

 is no perceptible stem and the plant always remains a tuft of 

 leaves. Its identification, however, is always certain because of 

 its method of bearing spores. 



The majority of the quill worts grow in water, but there a few 

 species that live on dry land. In appearance, all are alike. One 

 of the commonest of the submerged forms is Isoetes echinospora, 

 whose varieties are found nearly around the world in the northern 

 hemisphere. They grow on the bottom of lakes and ponds in from 

 one to several feet of water and are likely to be passed unseen un- 

 less one happens to be looking down into the water as his boat 

 glides over their dwelling places. In the bottom of some of our 

 glacial lakes they grow almost as thickly as grass does on the 

 banks, forming fresh and verdant sub-aqueous meadows over 

 which the dull-eyed fishes graze. He who has seen Isoetes only 

 when pressed and dried and glued to an herbarium sheet, will 

 scarcely recognize the living plant. In life the leaves spread in 

 all directions, only the central ones erect. 



Another widely distributed species, the type of the amphib- 

 ious kinds is Isoetes Engelmanni. It is most common on grav- 

 elly river shores. My own locality for it is at least forty miles 

 long, barring a few interruptions in the way of cities and towns 

 that cluster on the banks of the river along which it grows. Early 

 in the year when the streams are full, it is likely to be entirely sub- 

 merged, but about mid-summer the receding current leaves it un- 

 covered. It is a tall species with leaves six inches or more long. 

 In the water they sway with the current, but on land they are too 

 weak to remain erect, and fall over on all sides, reminding one of 

 a tiny green fountain. 



While it is easy enough to distinguish the quillworts from 

 other plants, it requires a compound microscope, time and 

 patience to be sure of the species. With practice it is no more 

 difficult to name these plants than any others. If after trying to 

 identify them one is not quite sure, he had better send his speci- 

 mens to a specialist like Mr. Eaton or Mr. Dodge — they might be 

 new species ! — W. N. C. 



— Prof. C. E. Waters writes that 1894 he found along the Gun- 

 powder river near Baltimore, specimens of what prove to be the 

 recently described Asplenium cbeneum f. Hor tones. 



