— 8i— 



Among the characters by which the so-called B. Onon- 

 dagense is to be known is the very short axis from which 

 the roots spring. In our illustration, which is natural 

 size and was drawn from a fresh specimen which is still 

 preserved, the axis appears to be fully as long as the 

 average for B. Lunaria. Another point is made of the 

 fact that the pinnae are farther apart, though of the same 

 number and shape as in B. Lunaria. This difference is 

 explained at once when we learn that Ononddgense grows 

 in woods and Lunaria prefers open fields and moors. It 

 is the natural thing for plants in the sun to be more com- 

 pact than when in the shade. It will not do to say that 

 the difference in habitat makes this a different species. 

 That any plant may have as great a variation in habitat 

 is shown by the moonwort's rare ally, the hart's tongue, 

 which in central New York grows in deep, moist ravines 

 only, while in Britain it is found on walls, in hedges, and 

 other exposed places. 



The illustration is from specimens sent through the 

 kindness of Air. H. E. Ransier from the Xew York sta- 

 tion for the plant. It is of special interest from the fact 

 that the fertile portion bears near the fruit a sterile pin- 

 nule of the usual size, showing unmistakably that the 

 fruiting part is morphologically closely related to the 

 sterile portion. At the date of collection (late in May), 

 the fruit was still green, and the apex of the panicle still 

 slightly coiled, or rather bent over, as its habit is. It is 

 hoped that collectors on our northern border, especially 

 in the Xew England States, may have the fern in mind 

 this vear, and see if it cannot be recorded at other stations. 



I wish to correct a misprint in my note on " Scolapen- 

 drium vulgare in Ontario" in the October (1905) Ferx 

 Bulletin. On page 105, instead of " The largest fronds 

 I found were 13 inches long." it should read, " The 

 largest fronds I found were 18 inches long." — A. B. 

 Khigh, Guelph, Out. 



