—45— 



have no specimen of incisa for comparison, but if my 

 form is not identical with it, it may, for purposes of 

 description, be called Osmunda cinnamomea bipin- 

 natiiida. 



AN ALABAMA STATION FOR BOTRYCHIUM 

 BITERNATUM. 



By W. C. Dukes. 



Just west of Mobile, Alabama, there is a gradual rise 

 until, some four miles from the city, one reaches at 

 Spring Hill an elevation of 200 feet or more. In ante- 

 bellum days this eminence was utilized by Mobilians as 

 a summer resort, and here many of the prominent fami- 

 lies of the city built summer-houses, where their de- 

 scendants still reside. The spacious grounds were 

 planted in cedars and other evergreens ; but owing to the 

 changed conditions many of the grounds have been cur- 

 tailed, and others allowed to grow up to various kinds 

 of second growth. This gives an ideal condition for the 

 growth of Ophioglossaceae, and here nourish three spe- 

 cies of Botrychium, viz. ; B. obliquum var., tenuifolium, 

 B. Alabamense, and B. biternatum. 



After the first two are well under way, and are flaunt- 

 ing their yellow-tasselled, powder-laden spikes, B. biter- 

 natum begins to push up its sterile blade, usually towards 

 the last of August or the first of September. At first it 

 seems to grow slowly, but the later rains cause it to de- 

 velop more rapidly, and by the middle of October to the 

 first of November the sterile frond is well on toward 

 maturity. At this stage the sterile frond lies flat upon 

 the ground, so close in fact that it is in little or no danger 

 from browsing animals. 



Even at this date (November 10th) the fruiting frond 

 is formed and lies coiled just at the surface of the ground, 

 dormant, and hidden away from biting frosts in the sedge 

 and grass until the coming of spring. 



The whole plant seems to be resting at this stage, and 



