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THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



from the sandy soil; others were fruiting. The same 

 plant was subsequently observed at several stations in 

 Newton County. In the writer's opinion it is not espe- 

 cially rare in this section. This fern with Pteridiutn Aqui- 

 linum pseadocaudatum, probably the most common of 

 all, are the only ones found in the grassy piney woods. 



We are accustomed to find the ebony spleenwort 

 (Asplenium platyneuron) on rocky slopes in old pastures 

 or open woods. Here (Newton County, January 7th) the 

 same plant was found in a level, sandy district growing 

 under a dense evergreen canopy of holly, red bay, wild 

 peach and oaks. 



The thick evergreen fronds of Dryopteris Boridanum 

 were discovered (January 20, 1903) near Trotti, same 

 county. Here they are growing in deep, moist, moss- 

 covered humus, close to the border of a small branch and 

 undercover of an almost impenetrable thicket of Ilex lucid- 

 ula. In this particular locality they are fairly abundant ; 

 elsewhere, however, none were seen. The rattle-snake 

 fern (Botrychium obliquuw) was seen occasionally during 

 the winter, always growing in the very best soil the re- 

 gion affords. 



The author considers himself lucky in being able to re- 

 port so many species from this sandy, poorly diversified 

 country. While it is still possible to find other species at 

 other seasons of the year, the thirteen species here enumer- 

 ated doubtless constitute the greater number of all the 

 ferns growing in the region. 



Bureau of Forestry, Washington, D. C. 



SPECIES OR VARIETIES? 



BY W. C. STEELE. 



THE editorials in the February number on subdivision 

 of species, reminds me of some of my own experiences 

 which may be of interest to the readers of The American 

 Botanist. I came to Florida nearly twenty years ago 

 and soon found that Gray's Manual and Wood's Class 



