110 Synopsis of Caiiadian Ferns and Filicoid Plants. 



Logie ; Lake Huron, Hook. Fl. B. A. ; De Salaberry, west line, W. S. 

 M. D ' Urban ; on the Gatineau, near Gilmour's rafting ground, D. 

 M'Gillivray, M.D. ; London, W. Saunders ; St Joachim and Isle St 

 Paul, Montreal, M. L'Abbe Provancher ; West Hawkesbury and Gren- 

 ville, C.E., J. Bell, B.A. Apparently common everywhere in Upper 

 Canada. I cannot speak so definitely of the Lower Province. This is 

 one of our finest Canadian ferns; "the most graceful and delicate of 

 North American ferns," says Torrey. It is easily cultivated. Fine as 

 it is in the Canadian woods, I have specimens even more handsome from 

 Schooley's Mountains (A. 0. Brodie, Ceylon Civil Service) ; their fan- 

 like fronds spread out in a semicircle, with a radius of 2| feet. It is not 

 a variable species in Canada. T. Moore, in " Index Filicum," gives its 

 distribution as N. and N.W. America, California to Sitka, North India, 

 Sikkim, Nepal, Gurwhal, Simla, Kumaon, Japan. There is a var. jS. 

 aleuticum, Rupr., in the Aleutian Islands. 



Pteris. 



Pt. aquilina, Linn. — Stipe stout, 1 to 3 feet high, frond ternate, 

 branches bipinnate, pinnules oblong lanceolate, sori continuous under their 

 recurved margins. Pt. aquilina, Linn., A. Gray, Moore, &c. — Abundant 

 on Dr Yates's farm in Pittsburg, and elsewhere about Kingston ; Water- 

 down Road, Hamilton, common. Judge Logie ; Chippawa and Maiden, 

 C.W., P. W. Maclagan, M.D. ; Ramsay, Rev. J. K. M'Morine, M.A. , 

 Prescott, common, B. Billings, jr. ; Belleville, very common on barren 

 ridges, J. Macoun ; Grand Island, Lake Superior, R. Bell, jr. ; Red 

 Lake River, also between Wild Rice and Red Lake Rivers, and Otter 

 Tail Lake and River, between Snake Hill River and Pembina, &c., 

 J. C. Schultz, M.D. ; Black Lead Falls, and Portage to Bark Lake, 

 W. S. M. D'Urban ; Gatineau Mills, very common, D. M'Gillivray, 

 M.D. ; Lakefield, North Douro, Mrs Traill ; New Brunswick, Hook. 

 Fl. Bor. Araer. ; L'Orignal, J. Bell, B.A. ; London, W. Saunders. 



a. vera. — Pinnules pinnatifid (the normal or typical form of Moore), 

 Dr Yates's farm, Kingston. 



/3. integerrima. — Pinnules entire (a sub- variety), common in Canada 

 and westward. There are various other sub-varieties, differing in size, 

 pubescence, &c. 



7. decipiens. — Frond bipinnate, thin and membranous, lanuginosa, 

 pinnules pinnatifidly toothed, or, in small forms, entire, barren ; L'Anse 

 a Cabielle, Gaspe, John Bell, B.A. This is a very remarkable fern, 

 resembling a Lastrea, and in the absence of fructification, it is doubt- 

 fully referred to Ftcris aquilina, yet the venation seems to indicate that 

 it belongs to that species, which is remarkable for its puzzling forms. 

 Being at a loss what to make of this fern, I sent it to Mr D. C. Eaton, 

 M.A , who is justly looked up to by American botanists as our best 

 authority on American ferns, and he likewise failed to recognise it. I 

 hope some visitor to Gasps will endeavour to obtain it in a fertile state, 

 and thus relieve the doubt.* 



* Since the above was written, I have liad an opportunity of studying the 

 forms and development of Pteris aquilina, and am quite satisfied that the 

 doabtful plant is a state of that species, not old enough to be fertile. 



