Aspidium  Marginale. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
\      June,  1878. 
terson  in  vol.  47,  page  292,  "Amer.  Jour,  of  Pharm. 1875.  It 
grows  along  the  banks  of  the  Conococheague  creek  and  other  streams 
that  wind  through  the  fertile  region  of  the  Cumberland  valley,  but  only 
on  the  rocky  ledges  that  face  northward.  I  never  found  it  on  those 
facing  directly  southward,  and  never  on  the  mountain  ranges  that  bor- 
der our  valley  except  a  few  stocks  at  springs  along  the  foot  of  the 
mountain. 
An  interesting  fact  in  support  of  this  statement  was  noticed  this 
morning  on  a  visit  to  the  yard  of  Dr.  Suesserott.  In  a  shaded  portion 
of  the  ground  on  an  elevated  bed,  having  an  evergreen  honeysuckle  as 
its  principal  occupant,  a  circular  and  marginal  belt  of  these  ferns  had 
been  planted  in  October,  1874.  At  this  date  they  are  still  flourishing 
luxuriantly  on  only  about  two-fifths  of  the  circle  facing  northward, 
while  none  whatever  remain  on  the  three  fifths  of  the  circle  facing 
southward,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  north,  east  and  south  sides 
of  this  mound  are  surrounded  at  about  equal  distances  with  buildings  of 
similar  height. 
Cbambersburg,  Pa.,  May  4,  1878. 
NOTE  ON  ASPIDIUM  MARGINALE. 
By  J.  M.  Maisch. 
Mr.  Cressler  has  very  kindly  accompanied  the  preceding  communi- 
cation with  various  specimens  comprising  the  tape  worm  expelled  in. 
August  and  October,  1876;  specimens  of  the  rhizome  and  stipes  as 
used  by  him  in  preparing  the  oleoresin,  and  living  plants  and  herbarium 
specimens  of  the  same.  As  indicated  by  Mr.  Cressler,  the  plant  is 
Aspidium  marginale,  Sw.,  which,  according  to  Gray,  is  very  common 
on  the  northern  section  of  this  continent  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  rocky  woodlands  of  Pennsylvania,  and  is  met  with  farther  south  to 
the  mountains  of  North  Carolina  (Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern 
United  States).  Our  native  species  of  Aspidium,  as  arranged  in  Gray's 
Manual,  belong  to  two  subgenera,  viz. :  Polystichum,  which  has  the 
indusium  or  shield-like  covering  of  the  sori  (fruif  patches)  orbicular, 
entire  and  attached  by  the  depressed  centre,  while  in  the  subgenus 
Dryopteris,  the  indusium  is  more  or  less  kidney-shaped  and  notched  at 
one  side.  The  latter  comprises  the  larger  number  (8)  of  species,  which 
include  both  Aspid.  marginale  and  Asp.  Filix-mas.  The  true  male  fern 
occurs  in  rocky  woods  of  the  Keweenaw  peninsula  of  Lake  Superior 
and  westward,  and  according  to  Porter  and  Coulter's  Flora  of  Colorado, 
