8 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. X, No. 1, 
AN INTERESTING BOTRYCHIUM HABITAT. 
John H. Schaffner. 
A common experience for a botanist is to go collecting in a 
well-worked locality and find some interesting plant that was 
not known there before. Such an experience came to me the 
past summer on Cedar Point, Erie County, Ohio. The Point has 
been worked botanically for many years by various collectors, 
including myself. 
One day in the last week of June, I visited the north bank of 
the large lagoon in the woods north of the summer resort. I 
gathered a number of plants of no special importance and took 
them to the Laboratory in my vacsulum for study. The fol- 
lowing morning while throwing out the material, I noticed a 
broken specimen of Botrychium simplex Hitch, clinging to one 
of the plants. I was naturally delighted, for no specimens of this 
plant were known from Ohio although the name was on the State 
list. I returned to the place and soon found the plants in abun- 
dance. A little farther on I found Botrychium neglectum Wood, 
also in abundance. This was another rare Ohio plant, being 
known only from a few localities in the north-eastern part of 
the state. Then I concluded that there certainly must be others. 
So a little search brought to light Botrychium obliquum Spreng. 
besides Botrychium virginianum, which was on the Cedar Point 
list, being quite common. No more Botrychiums were found 
although I thought there should be others, but the search, made 
partlv on hands and knees, ended with adding Ophioglossum 
vulgatum L. to the collection. This made six of the Ophio- 
glossaceae growing in an area not over two rods in diameter. 
Not only were the sporophytes found but gametophvtes of 
all the species were dug up. These were mostly located by the 
tiny juvenile sporophytes projecting above the surface of the 
soil. Botrychium dissectum has the first tiny leaf of the typical 
shape. A whole series of juvenile stages was seen without the 
slightest indication of a generalized type of leaf. I naturally 
supposed that the first leaf would have some of the characters 
of Botrvchium obliquum of which species it is by some thought 
to be a variety or form. The plants could, however, not be mere 
clearly defined. They show the specific character from the 
beginning. This seemed especially interesting since so commonly 
there is a verv decided similarity of juvenile forms in closely 
related species. 
The place is an open thicket of Rhus hirta and other small 
trees and shrubs. The scil is sandy and rich in humus, partly 
drv and partly swampy. It is hoped that notwithstanding its 
nearness to the summer resort, this habitat will be undisturbed for 
