THE FERN BULLETIN 



Vol. XV. JANUARY, 1907. No. 1 



THE FERN FLORA OF OHIO. 



By Lewis S. Hopkins. 



From an ecological standpoint, Ohio represents what 

 might be termed average conditions. The forty inches 

 of rainfall is usually fairly well distributed, the summers 

 are warm but not excessively so, while the winters are 

 not unusually severe. There are no real mountains in the 

 State, the average elevation being 760 feet above sea 

 level. At the same time there are over forty points in 

 the State whose elevation is over 1000 feet, the highest 

 being Hogue's Hill, near Bellefontaine, which is 15^0 feet 

 high. The main features of relief are due to erosion and 

 not to anticlinal or snyclinal folds. The river valleys 

 formed by the erosive action of the streams extend north 

 and south. The main water-shed, about 11 00 feet high, 

 extends across the State from its northeastern corner to 

 near the middle of the western boundary. Glacial drift 

 covers the northwestern three-fourths of the State. There 

 are no real lakes in Ohio, yet there are numerous ponds 

 bearing the name on the northern slope, as well as peat 

 in various stages of formation. The soil in these regions 

 affords ideal conditions for the raising of celery, onions, 

 etc., and many acres are annually being reclaimed for this 

 purpose, to the destruction of the native flora of these 

 most interesting regions. 



Generally speaking, the rock-loving ferns are more 

 abundant in that part of the State which lies south of the 

 fortieth parallel ; the marsh-loving ferns in that part in- 

 cluded in the St. Lawrence basin; while the wood ferns 

 are likely to be found anywhere. It might be added also 

 that the rock-loving ferns, owing to the nature of their 



