52 
occupies about 200 acres. In addition we have at the 
back of the campus a range of hills where we have an 
oak forest and a few redwoods. This ridge we have set 
aside as a natural history reserve. I would also like to 
say that in our arboretum we are proposing to grow 
especially plants from regions something like California, 
such as Chile and the Mediterranean. We hope eventu- 
ally to have a fairly good representation of our native 
vegetation there. 5 ’ 
After the dinner the party adjourned to the large 
reception room where the time was given to social con- 
verse and to entertainment by the members. 
THE AYAHS OAK. 
A very large individual of the valley oak, Quercus 
lobata, stands on the Old Kentucky Ranch, 12 miles west 
of Paso Robles. The owner is Maurice B. Ayars. The 
tree has recently been measured by several persons and 
the measurements sent me by Mr. H. A. Greene. Of the 
measurements, I take the most conservative: 
Circumference at ground, 41 ft. 1 in. 
Circumference 4 ft. above the ground, 28 ft. 3 in. 
Diameter of crown, 132 ft. 
Height of tree, 110 ft. 
Nothing was reported about the health of the tree or 
condition of the trunk bark, but in all probability it is 
an unusual specimen and well worth visiting by any one 
interested in the large oaks of California. — W. L. Jepson. 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GOLD-BACK FERN. 
• Diminutive specimens of this species (Pitrogramma 
triangularis) are of frequent, occurrence in favorable 
localities, often on the face of rocks or in crevices of 
rock masses. These facts clearly indicate that its natural 
propagation and dissemination is effected through the 
germination of spores scattered by the wind from mature 
plants, yet no account of the prothallia seems to have 
been recorded. 
No difficulty was experienced in finding an abundance 
of the prothallia during February of the present season. 
They were found on very damp soil and bits of rotted 
wood and assumed a shallow cup-like form due to the 
division of the prothallia into two ear-like lobes which 
curve upward slightly. The young plants always arose 
from the under surface and the first leaves were pro- 
truded through the base of the sinues separating the 
two lobes. Antheridia were found sparingly but no arche- 
gonia and most of the young plants seemed to have 
developed vegetatively, illustrating the well-known phe- 
nomenon of apogamy. The first two leaves were usually 
three- and four-lobed and resembled the pinnae of species, 
of Adiantum but the succeeding ones assumed the 
characteristic deltoid form of the mature state. — W. C. 
Rlasdale. 
