THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 
Vol. II. April 15, 1902. No. 4 
NOTES FROM OHIO. 
By Almon N. Rood. 
Last November, in company with a botanical friend, I was ex- 
ploring a small brook in Portage County, Ohio. We descended a 
steep bank at the foot of which a hidden spring spread its waters 
over the surface of the ground and here in the open bog we came 
across a number of plants of the, with us, very local fern, Dryop- 
teris cristatcD. Though so late in the season that severe frosts had 
nearly denuded the trees of foliage, yet many fronds, especially 
the fertile ones, remained green and fresh, so that a number were 
collected for herbariumi specimens. A peculiarity of this fern 
especially noticeable, was the po'sition of the pinnae, nearly all be- 
ing situated with the plane of their surfaces at nearly a right angle 
to the general plane of the frond. D. cristata is one of the pleas- 
ant surprises that await us occasionally in unexpected places and 
never fails to attract the attention of the plant lover, its narrow, 
graceful fronds and rich deep coloring, combining to make it con- 
spicuous among its other plant companions. 
On the same date and in another part of the same county I left 
our buggy tO' examine a clump of papaw trees (Asiminai triloba), 
and in the thicket found clinging toi some vines a bunch of purplish 
black berries which looked unfamiliar. An examination on the 
return home revealed them as the fruit of the moonseed (Meni- 
spermum canadense) , which, while not by any means a rare plant 
here, seldom produce fruit in any very noticeable quantity. A 
bush of Vibttrmim lentago covered with clusters of dark purple, 
papery fruit, was alsoi found in the same locality and many seeds 
and berries of more or less familiar plants lent a pleasing variety 
to the store of botanical 'catches" for the day. 
