58 



THE FERN BULLETIN 



Havens, P. niveus and P. tenera and still more recently 

 W. N. Steil of the University of Wisconsin reported 

 the same condition in our native Pellaea atropurpurea. 

 In Steil's specimens the young sporophytes were borne 

 on the prothallus lobes near the notch. The same in- 

 vestigator is now working on apogamy in other species. 

 A note in a recent number of this magazine asked for 

 spores of Pellaea gracilis (Crypto gramma Stelleri) for 

 this purpose. 



Lycopodium lucidulum porophylum. — In the 

 Ohio Naturalist for April Prof. J. H. Schaffner de- 

 votes several pages to a discussion -of the specific dis- 

 tinctness of forms allied to Lycopodium lucidulum 

 and comes to the conclusion that Lycopodium poro- 

 phylum is a good species. If one is to judge by ap- 

 pearances alone, there can be no question as to L. 

 lucidulum being different from L. porophylum but if 

 the different appearances that plants put on under dif- 

 ferent conditions of warmth, light and moisture are to 

 be considered then there as a number of fern species in 

 this country in need of a name. Compare Woodsia ob- 

 tusa grown on a sunny cliff with the same species 

 grown on a moist one, or Equisetum arvense in woods 

 and on railway banks. Nobody at present can say posi- 

 tively whether the form called porophyllum is a species 

 or not. If it can be grown in moisture and shade while 

 still retaining its characters, or if its spores will pro- 

 duce plants like the parent when sown in moist 

 shades, then the case should be considered closed. 

 Meanwhile, if one were to imagine a dry ground form 

 of L. lucidulum what kind of a plant would he con- 

 struct? Perhaps prostrate stem shorter; branches in 

 a denser tuft, shorter; leaves less notched, smaller; 

 whole plant yellower. Well, that is the description of 

 L. porophylum! 



