THE MOUNTAIN SPLEENWORT AND ITS 

 RELATIVES 



By Willard N. Clute. 



IT does not take a beginning fern student long to discover 

 that most ferns have rather definite habitats. Though 

 swamp and bog may seem nearly synonymous in our everyday 

 speech, they are by no means the same to ferns and each has 

 its appropriate species. The same is true of rock-loving ferns 

 which, with few exceptions, will not grow anywhere except 

 on rocks and even there are found to have a perception of the 

 differences between different rocks that would do credit to a 

 mineralogist. The fondness of the walking fern and cliff 

 brake for limestone is well known, and, while we cannot say 

 that these plants are never found on other kinds of rocks, the 

 instances when they are, are sufficiently remarkable to be note- 

 worthy. 



As a general thing, sandstones have the poorest fern flora, 

 shales seldom harbor the rarities beloved of the fern collector, 

 granites are the homes of several interesting species, and lime- 

 stone supports the most luxuriant and varied flora of all. It 

 is not to be inferred, however, that the first ledge of limestone 

 will contain all or even any of the rarities. These plants have 

 a most perplexing and seemingly capricious way of occurring 

 in unexpected places, and the collector may ransack the cliffs 

 by the hour without finding any but common species and 

 finally discover, often by the merest accident, a colony of some 

 long-sought plants ensconced in a cranny that is all but inac- 

 cessible. 



