A new Botrychium from Alabama

Vol. XIX, ^pp. 23-24 February_26,

1906

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW BOTP.YCHIUM FROM ALABAMA.

BY WILLIAM

^R.

MAXON.

Bypermission^ofthe Secretary of the SmithsonianInstitution.

Through

the courtesy^of

Mr. W.

C.

Dukes

of_INfolnle,

Alabama,

the

U.

8.

National Herbarium has

received

within

the last

year an

excellent scries of

an unusually

interesting

Botrychium, from

the vicinity ^of

Mobile, which

is

apparently undescribcd. The

writer's

views

as to the propriety ^of

recognizing

^{the various}

well-marked component ^forms

^{of the}

ternatum^voup

^{as full} spe- cies, in those instances in

which intermediates

are

not known, were _expressed

at

some _length*

less

than

a

year ago and need not be

_repeated.

The present form, whose

relationship will

be

discussed

below, may appropriately be known

as

Botrychium Alabamense

sp.nov.

A

slenderdelicateplant of ^tlie icrnatum group, 20-30 cm. _higli,brandl- ing^{at or}abovethe surface of the ground.

Stem

2-3.5cm._long,2-3

mm.

in diameter, pale or salmon-colored, clothed belowwith afibrousslieatli

and

emitting

numerous

stoutspreading ^{roots. Sterile} division bright green, short- or frequently long-petiolate (average ^2.5cm.), about 12cm. broad

by

^11cm. long, fully tripinnate,or quadripinnatifid^{as to} the basal portion of the lowermostlateral divisions,variable inoutline but

commonly

^sul)-

pentagonal, the ^lateraldivisions usually alternate; ultimatesegments (in normal mature _plants) approximate, ^or

somewhat

_{distant, alternate,} ob- lique,broadlyobovate, 5-10

mm.

broad, subequally

and

stronglycuneateto anarrow adnatebase, rarelywithashallowlaterallobe; margins unequally

and

conspicuouslytiuibriate,particularly inthelargerspecimens^{; texture} thin,flaccid,the veins readilyperceptible. Sporophyll averaging 22 cm.

in length,slender,often arcuate or even _flexuose,uniformly^{of a}decided salmon color (excepting the apical third) as are also the

main

vascular partsof thesteriledivision; panicle 7-10cm._long,bipinnate orrarely^tri- pinnate, basalbranch_averaging3.5cm.inlength.

Known

^{to the writer} onlyfrom the _vicinityof Mobile,Alabama,

and

chiefly through^afine series collected

by

^Mr.

Dukes

at SpringHill, at

an

*

A New

BotrychiumfromJamaica.—Bull.Torrey Club32^:219-222. 1905.

5—

^{Proc.Biol. Soc.} Wash., Vol.XIX, ^1906. (23)

24 Maxon — _{A New} Botryckium from Alabama.

elevationof 200feet,

some

six orseven miles west of that_city.

Of

these specimens, No.510,782,U.S.NationalHerbarium,collected inAugust,1905, is designated as type.

The

_only other material seen is a _single sheet of small plants^collected

somewhere

inthevicinityofMobile

by

^thelate Dr.Chas.Mohr,

who

_regarded

them

as

"an

_ambiguous

form" which he was

unableto place withcertainty.

The

following note

on

habitatiskindlycontributed

by

^Mr.Dukes:

"Nearly

^all the material ofthisplant [B.Alabamensf] ^hasbeen found atSpring^{Hill. * * *}

The

fewisolated plants ^{so far}found at lowereleva- tions weresmall

and

_nearlyalways misshapen.

The

bestspecimens ^are invariablyfound inopen^thicketsundertheshelterofcedars

and yanpon

treesor along

yaupon

hedges^atthe edges of old

abandoned

fieldsandpas- tures. Likeallthe Botrychia^{in thissectionitis}foundincolonies offrom

two

orthreetooftenas

many

^asfiftyormore. ^{* * *} Itputs

up

^its

new

frond afterthelate

summer

rains,towards themiddle"ofAugust,^atabout the

same

timeas B. tenuifnlimn,

and

isoftenfound growing^{in close}prox- imity^tothelatter; indeed, you seldom^findone withoutfinding the other also.

The

_fruitingfronds developordinarilyfromthemiddleofSeptember tothefirstofOctober but vary^several

weeks

_accordingtoweathercondi- tions; duringdry^seasonsthey^{arelate in}appearing."

The

_present form stands

somewhat

between B.obliquum

and

B. hiter-

natum.

From

the former,whichinatypical state^is apparently altogether wanting from Alabama,^{it differs} conspicuously ^inits lax _habit,usually longer-stalked divisions

and

short rounded segments.

From

the ^latter species,

which

iswell

known

^foritsuniqueseasonal character_{i.e.fruiting in earlyspring), ^itdeparts otherwise ⁱⁿthe greater^sizeofallitsparts,^its non-prostratehabit,decidedlythinnertexture

and

lessdivaricatebranch- ing. Inaway, however, dwarfedplants of B.

A

lahamense

and uncommonly

robust specimensof B. biternatum simulate each other rather closely

and

offera possible suggestion^{as to}the_originofthelatter. Furtherdiscussion oftheirrelationship

may

^{wellbedeferreduntil}the publication of^a paper

which

Mr.

Dukes

has prepared, descriptive of B. biternalum ^asit occurs in Alabama, with particular reference toitspeculiar seasonal appearance.

But

whatever theirphytogeny

may

^{have been it}appearsscarcely

open

^to question that the

two

areatthe presenttimespecifically distinct.

Incidentally^it

may

be mentionedthatthe plants^towhich Mr.

Dukes

re- fersas B.fenulfitliumare

much

_largerthan those _originally described

by

Professor

Underwood and

not altogethertypical in cutting.