—8 5 — 



N. undulata and N. Bauseii. Our common AT.- exaltata 

 does not produce them. 



Fragrant Cinnamon Fern. — Mrs. A. P. Taylor of 

 Thomasville, Ga., writes that Osmunda cinnamonea gland- 

 ulosa is decidedly aromatic. If bruised early in the day 

 it is of a spicy fragrance. Mrs. Taylor suggests that this 

 may be the origin of the name cinnamon fern, but the 

 evidence appears to be against this. It is a case where 

 the name might have been derived in two ways, just as 

 in the ebony spleenwort, the name is usually considered 

 as given in reference to the ebony-colored stipes, but 

 eben means a stone in some languages, and as the plant 

 prefers rocky or stony places, the name might easily be 

 derived in another way. As to the glandular members 

 of a species being fragrant, it may be noted that most 

 glands on plants secrete a volatile oil and that nearly 

 all such oils are odoriferous. A large number are pleas- 

 ing to our sense of smell and these we call fragrant, but 

 many are quite otherwise. 



The Forms of Onoclea Sensibilis. — I was greatly 

 interested in your article on the obtusilobata forms of 

 Onoclea, and I was one who tried to produce them by 

 removing the fronds, but it did not work, with me. 

 Now last year was a rather wet season and I found one 

 or two of them ; this year has been very dry with us, 

 and I find dozens of them. I found twenty in about a 

 rod square, and can find them anywhere. I wondered at 

 it and I think you hit it about right. Why is it some- 

 times in the shade it will fruit, and others near, out in 

 the sun, are all sterile. — H. C. Bigelow, New Britain, 

 Conn. [Prof. L. S. Hopkins recently submitted to us 

 a series of these forms from Ohio, collected in a locality 

 where there appeared to be little likelihood that the 

 rootstocks had ever been injured in any way. It is 

 not denied that mutilating or removing the early fronds 

 may produce the obtusilobata forms, but it seems quite as 

 likely that drouth often causes these forms. — Ed.] 



