NOTES ON AMERICAN FERNS: IV* 



By William R. Maxon. 



'HE Harts-tongue in Tennessee. At the New York Meet- 



ing of last summer I presented a paper " On the Occurrence 



of the Hart's-tongue in America."! Two localities for the 

 fern in Tennessee were described, neither one of which 1 had at 

 that time seen. In the following August, however, a collecting trip 

 in the South afforded me an opportunity of visiting both. I have 

 since described % somewhat more fully the South Pittsburg sta- 

 tion ; the present note is merely to call attention to the supposed 

 absence of the fern at Post Oak Springs, the other locality from 

 which it had been reported. 



Post Oak Springs is but two or three miles from the railway 

 station of Cardiff, some 75 miles north of Chattanooga. With the 

 aid of a guide I was able to locate the two caves mentioned by Dr. 

 Gattinger; but a half day's careful exploration in the vicinity of 

 the " dry cave" proved fruitless so far as Phyllitis is concerned; 

 Aspienium parvulum, A. ruta-muraria, A. angustifolium,Pel- 

 laea atropurpurea and Camptosorits rhizophyllus were common. 

 The situation naturally is altogether favorable to the Hart's- 

 tongue ; but the wonderfully cool draughts issuing from the cave, 

 the picturesque scenery and the delightful shaded slopes render 

 the vicinity an ideal picnic-ground, and it is small wonder that 

 any particular species of plant should disappear, especially if of an 

 unusual type, as the Hart's-tongue is. Dr. Gattinger now writes 

 that he observed the plant only on one occasion ; but as the species 

 is one with which he was familiar in Germany there is no reason 

 for doubting the record of its former occurrence at Post Oak 

 Springs. Either forest fires or cattle may have been responsible 

 for the havoc I have charged to the picnicker. Dr. Gattinger is 

 inclined to regard fires as the most potent factor in extermination, 

 and he writes that he once fought a fire on this very " Cave 

 Spring" farm. The plant may have persisted here through var- 

 ious vicissitudes to the present, but if this be the case better eyes 

 than the subscriber's are needed to find it ! 



Polypodium falcatum a western " Tree Fern." Exception 



* Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution. 



t Since published in Fernwort Papers, pp. 30-46. 1900. 

 X Plant World, 4: 129-132. 1900. 



