so 
BOTANICAL. INDEX. 
better plan, even if it does cost a little more, is to wall up and cement a smalf basin 
in the ground to grow the plants in during summer, which, by a little care and ex- 
pense, can be protected so that frost will not reach down to the tubers during 
winter ; for it is quite certain they will stand no frost, but lay dormant during winter 
below the frost line, and start to grow again when the heat of the sun warms the 
water sufficient to start circulation in the plants. 
[After the article on Xelumbium was in type, and could not be changed in the 
pages, we have thought best to add a few words as a note in regard to the tubers. 
Fig. 50 is the exact size and form of a tuber which we cut in halves and stamped on 
paper, which the artist has transferred to the engraver’s block. The air chamber in 
the center, and the two in the upper surface, are very small, while those at the bottom 
are quite large. The tubers are from three to live inches long, and from one to one 
and a half inches in diameter; smooth, and very similar in form to a common sweet 
potato. In the profile view, Fig. 50, it is represented as laying on its side, the upper 
surface being at the letter c.] 
In the October number of the Index we propose to give a short, illustrated, popu- 
lar article on the Xymphcea, and would be pleased to receive from some of our friends 
a specimen— root and all — of Xymphcea tuberosa. We have never yet been fortunate 
enough to secure one, although we have collected plenty of X. odoratn. There is 
very little difference in the two species, except X. odorata has a long, continuous 
root-stock, while X. tuherosa produces tubers from a smaller root-stock. 
GEOGRAPHICAL BOTANY. 
SYRACUSE, X. r., FERXS. 
The following list of forty-four Ferns, (species and varieties), was made by L. M. 
Underwood, of Syracuse, N. Y. Of the Ferns mentioned as growing in the locality, 
all but three or four have been found by him ; the others being given on the authority 
of other botanists of that city. It is doubtful if any one locality in the United States 
can furnish so great a variety of this interesting botanical family, Felices or Ferns. 
List of Ferns growing in the vicinity of Syracuse, Onondaga Co., X. Y. 
Polypodium vulgare, L. 
Adiantum pedatum, L. 
P ter is aquilina, L. 
P ell<e a atropurpurea, Link. 
Asplenium triehomunes, L. 
A . ebeneum, Ait. 
A. ruta-muraria, L. 
A. anyusti folium, Mir.hx. 
A . thelypteroides, Mirhx. 
A . filix-foemi/na, Bernli. 
Svolopendrium vulgare, Smith. 
Osmunda regalis , I.. 
O. Claytoniana , L. 
Botrychium simplex. Hitch. 
B. lanceolatum, Angstroem. 
B. matricariajo/ium, A. Br. 
ORDER FILICES. 
Sub-Order, Polypodiace.e. 
Ca/nptosorus rhisnphyllus, Link. 
Phegopteris hexagonoptera, Fee. 
P. dryopteris. Fee. 
Aspidium thelypteris, Swartz. 
A. noveboracense, Swartz. 
A. spinulosum, Swartz. 
A. “ ear. intermedium. 
A. “ var. Bootii. 
A . cristatum , Swartz. 
A. “ var. Clintonianum. 
A. Goldianum, Hook. 
Sub-Order, Osmcndace.e. 
Osmunda cinnamornea , L. 
Sub-Order, Ophioolossace.e. 
Botrychium Virginicum, Swartz. 
B. ternatum, Swartz. 
B. “ var. lunarioides, Milde. 
A . mar g inale, Swartz. 
A. acrostichoides, Swartz. 
A. “ var. incisum. 
Cystopteris bulbifera, Bernli. 
C. fragilis, Bernli. 
C. •• var. dentata , Hook. 
Struthiopteris Germanica, VVilhl. 
Onoclea senxibilis, L. 
0. “ var. vbtusilobata , T. 
Dicksonia punctilobula, Kunze. 
0. cinnamornea , var. Jrondosa. 
B. ternatum, var. obliquum, Milde. 
Ophioglossum vulgalum, L. 
[We are under many obligations to Mr. Underwood for the above valuable list, 
which indicates an enthusiastic collector, and hope to receive for publication similar 
lists from other localities. Mr. Underwood would be pleased to exchange Ferns and 
rare flowering plants for varieties not in his collection. His collection embraces 
about 125 species of growing Foreign and American Ferns, including Southern and 
far Western species not in common cultivation. — E d.] 
