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OUR FERNS IN THEIR HAUNTS.

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PlATF. Vii THE OAK FERN. /'-;, ,./.',/■/. Ih\.-pt.ris.

OUR FERNS
IN THEIR HAUNTS

B <3ut&e to all tbe flattve Species

WILLARD NELSON CLUTE

Author o/'* A Flora of the Upper Husquehantta "
ILLUSTRATED BY

WILLIAM WALWORTH STILSON

Toronto
William Briggs

r~r-

OKsas -07

AND

-LIKS,

Fe UN-

HE Adder's

CONTENTS.

List of Illustrations.

Preface,

The Uncoillxg Fronds,

The Osmundas,

The Rattlesnake Fern

TONGUE,

The Moonwort and rrs Ai

The Bracken,

The Cliff Brakes, .

The Woodsias,

The Christmas and Holli

The Marsh Fern Tribe,

The Wood Ferns, .

The Rock Spleenworts,

The Lady Fern and its Kin,

The Polypodies,

The Bladder Ferns,

The Chain Ferns, .

The Boulder Fern,

Cheilanthes and Maidenhair,

The Sensitive and Ostrich Ferns.

The Walking Fern and the Hart's-'

The Curly Grass and the Climbing Fern.

Border Species,

Concerning Nomenclature,

Key to the Genera,

Checklist of the Ferns,

Glossary,

Index to Common Names.

Index to Scientific Names,

Tongue.

rAi.E

vii

/
21

37
49
(35
/9
89

lOI

i'3
l2g

»5i

175
191
205
215
225

233
249
261

273
283

291

301

3J3
321

327
330

161309

List of Illustrations.

THE OAK FERN.

Pktgo^teris Dryofttru.

A CROSIER.

FLOWERING FERN. ...

SORI OF ASPLENIUM.

SORI OF POLYPODIUM.
FIDDLE-HEADS" ....

A WAYSIDE SPRING. ■ . . .

CINNAMON FERN. OimuHda cinnamomea.

A FRUITING PINNA. • • . .

TUFT OF WOOL AT BASE OF PINN>€. .

"HE CINNAMON FERN. Osmunda cinnamomta.

INTERRUPTED FERN Oimunda Claytoniana.

INTERRUPTED FERN. Osmunda ClaytoHiana. Fertile frond

THE INTERRUPTED FERN. Osmunda C/ayteniana.

FLOWERING FERN. Osmunda regalit. ,

SPORE-CASES.

CROSIERS

FLOWERING FERN. Osmunda recalls. .

SPORANGIA.

HATTLESNAKE FERN. Botrychiutn Virpnianum.

RATTLESNAKE FERN. Botrychium rirgininnum

ADDER'S-TONGUE. Ophloglossum vulgatum.

THE ADDER'S TONGUE. Opiiioglossum vu:,-tum. Plate I.

" THERE IS AN HERB " . . . .

MOONWORT. Botrychium Lunaria.

COMMON GRAPE FERN. Botrychium oit.'juum.

BOTRYCHIUM OBLIQUUM DISSECTUM

LITTLE GRAPE FERN. Botrychium simfltx.

LANCE-LtAVED GRAPE FERN. Botrychium lanceolatum.

THE MATRICARY GRAPE FERN. Botrychium matricari„/olium.

MATRICARY GRAPE FERN. Botrychium matricari^/^Hum.

Frontispiece.
PAOE.

. 13

«5

«7

fating i8

facing a6

facing 38

facing 30

facing 33

facing 34

facing 36

facing 43

44
46
facing 46
facing 50
Sa
S6
57
58
59

Plate 11 fkcingfa
61

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

BOTRYCHIUM MATHICARI/CFOLIUM TENEBROSUM

BRACKEN. I'terh aquilina. Lower pinna.

" KING CHARLES IN THE OAK."

A FRUITING PINNA.

PTERIS AQUILINA PSEUDOCAUDATA. Lower pinna,

THE BRACKEN ROOTSTOCK.

WINTER BRAKE. l\U„a iit>o/<u>furea. .

WINTER BRAKE. I\llu;i alro/'urfurea. .

TIP OF FERTILE FROND. 1-nlargcd.

SLENDER CLIFF BRAKE. I'iUtra gracilis.

PELL/tA DENSA. Fertile frond. .

RUSTY WOODSIA. li'oodsia llvensis.

ROOTSTOCK.

FRUITING PINNA. ....

OBTUSE WOODSIA. li'oodsia obtusa.
ALPINE WOODSIA. M'ooiiiia hyfirborea. .
AFRUITINBFROND. ....
OBTUSE WOODSIA. IVoodsin obtusa.
FERTILE FROND. ....

SMOOTH WOODSIA. H'l-odsia gtabitU. .
CHRISTMAS FERN. Polystithum lutostichoidi
fronds. ....

POL/STICHUM ACROSTICHOIDES (NCISUM.
HOLLY FERN' J^f^i'y^tichtnu lonchitis.
THE CHRISTMAS FERN. Polystickum acrostichoides.
POLYSTICHUM BRAUNII.

CROSIERS

MARSH FERN. Aspidium Thelypteris. .
VENATION. .....

THE MARSH FERN. " ALONG STREAMS AND IN DAMP

SORI,

THE SNUFF-BOX. ....

NEW YORK FERN, Aspidium Koiehorncense.
NEW YORK FERN. Aspidium Noveboracense.
FRUITING PINN,€. ....

VENATION.

ASPIDIUM SIMULATUM.

FRUITING PINNA. ....

VENATION. .....

MARGINAL SHIELD FERN. Aspl.timii nKtrfina/f

I'AUK.

■

•

fiuing 84

•

facing 86

•

facing 98

•

facing 96

facing 100

eriiie and

sterile

facing io6

107

108

IMale III.

firing 108

113

!:•:

118

MEADO/VS.

filing 118

119

120

facing 120

121

122

125

•

124

I2S

126

'.14

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE MARGINAL SHIELD FERN. AsJiiUium mnr^inaU,
SORI. Klllar;;ctl. • . . . .

FRUITING PINN/C

SORI. •■■..,

THE HOME OF THE WOOD FERNS.

THE MALE FERN

A FRUITING PINNA.

GOLDIE' shield FERN. Ai/.i,iium Col.lUaiium.
ASPIDIUM Ci 'STATUM. Miiiillc pinna-. .
CRESTED ERH ■Is/'i.liuiii ,• islatum. .
ASPIDIUM CRIST ATUM CLINTONIANUM. Middle pin
ASPIOIUM BOOTTII. .....

ASPIDIUM CRIST ATUM CLINTONIANUM.

ASPIDIUM BOOTTII. I-i)Wesl pinna.

SPINULOSE SHIELD FERN. Asphliiim sf.inulosnm int,

CRESTED FERN. Asfidiuin cristatum. Sterile frond

A PINNULE. MuchcnlarBcd.

ASPIDIUM SPINULOSUM DILATATUM. I-oucst pinna.

FRAGRANT FERN. ■i,/'i,lium franrans.

A FRUITING PINNA.

FRAGRANT FERN. Is/iiifhini frngrnns.

FROND OF MAIDENHAIR SPLFENWORT.

GREEN SPLEENWORT. .\sfl,„ium -I'iride.

FROND OF GREEN SPLEENWORT.

SMALL SPLEENWORT. Asf/.nhnii /<nrii,lum.

EBONY SPLEENWORT. ■'.■./■/ciium eh.ncum.

A FRUITING PINNA. . . . . ,

EBONY SPLEENWORT. Fertile frond. .

THE WALL RUE. A.'./>!,iiiiim ruta-murarla. Thre

MOUNTAIN SPLEENWORT Aspl,-,,,;,,,, monlanum.

FERTILE FROND OF MOUNTAIN SPLEENWORT.

ASPLENIUM BRADLEYI

FRUITING PINN/€ OF ASPLENIUM BRADLEYI. .

ASPLENIUM PINNATIFIDUM. A fertile frond.

THE PINNATIFID SPLEENWORT. A,/-h,tiu,n /.i„„„t

ASPLENIUM EBENOIDES

ASPLENIUM FONTANUM

LADY FERN. Alhyrhim f,nx/<rmina. .
PINNA OF VARIETY OVATUM. A common form,
FRUITING PINNULE. Knl.ir{;ed,

rialc IV.

•'iiii-i/iuiii. .

forms of fronds.

/acing

ti/1.

Juin. Plate V,

PAOE.

facing :j4

'35

»35

•J5

/'icing 136

'37

.38

J'acing 138

. 140

fociiig 140

141

I4i

142

'43

•44

'44

'45

146

'47

148

facing 148

•57
158
158
facing 160
facing 162
161
161

'63
164

•fis

facing 166
166
■ 67

facing 168
.f9

'73
180
181
18?

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

A FORM FROM SUNNY THICKETS.

A WOODLAND FORM.

THE. HAUNTS OF THE LADY FERN.

SILVERY SPLEENWORT. ■Hhyrium thelypttroidet. .
SILVERY SPLEENWORT. Athyrium thelyfleroija.
FRUITING PINN/t.

NARROW-LEAVED SPLEENWORT. AsfUHium angustifoli
frond.

PHEGOPTERIS 0RYOPTERI8. INITIAL. •
THE COMMON POLYPODY. I'olyfodium viilgare. Plale VI
COMMON POLYPODY. I'oly/'cuiium vulgare. .
GRAY POLYPODY. t'olyJ>odium inciiHum.
3EECH FERN. I'litgofUris folyfodioidts.
BEECH FERN. l'''i'Sotterh polyfodioides.
BROAD BEECH FERN. Phe£0/>teris /le.ragono/itera. .
'the BROAD BEECH FERN ISA LOVER OF DEEP, SHADY WOOD

LANDS."

COMMON BLADDER FERN. CyslK/iteris /rngilis.
CYSTOPTERIS FRAGILIS. A rare form of frond.
BULBIFEROUS BLADDER FERN. Cystofteris hulbi/era.
COMMON BLADDER FERN. Cystofteris fragilU.
MOUNTAIN BLADDER FEMN. Vyitof>teris montana. .
COMMON CHAIN FERN, ll'oodwardia I'irginka.
WOODWARDIA VIRGINICA. A fruiting pinna. .
NARROW-LEAVED CHAIN FERN. I^'oadwardia angusti/<>/i<t.

and sterile fronds. ....

THE BULBIFEROUS BLADDER FERN. Cystcftcrh bulbi/era. Plate
BOULDER FERN. Dicksonia f'ilosiiiuula.
BOULDER FERN. Dicksonia filosiustula.

A FRUITING PINNA.

CHEILANTHES VESTITA.

CHEILANTHESTOVENTOSA. ....

CHEILANTHES LANUGINOSA. ....

CHEILANTHES ALABAMENSIS ....

YOUNG FRONDS. .....

MAIDENHAIR FERN. Atii.iniiii.i fedatum.

" ON MOIST SHADED SLOPES IN LOW WOODS."

A FRUITING PINNULE.

VENUS-HAIR FERN. Adianlum Cajiilltts-l'eneris.
SENSITIVE FERN. Oi'oclca scHsihilis. Young fronds.

PAOE.

183

•

•83

.84

186

/acing

186

188

Sterile

/ill itig

18S

•

»95

facing

.96

•

.96

•

198

facing

198

facing

200

facing

202

VOOD-

facing

204

210

facing

210

•

212

facing

212

. yiit ing

214

facing

220

Fertile

facing

222

VII. facing

224

2JO

facing

230

231

238

240

241

242

24.1

244

facing

244

245

246

facing

254

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

ONOCLEA SENSIBILIS OBTU8ILOBATA. •

SENSITIVE FERN. Ouoclta UHtibilis. Fertile and tterile fronds.

" IN THE WET, SANDY SOIL OF A HALF-SHADED ISLAND."

OSTRICH FERN. Struikiopttrit Germanica. Fertile and sterile fronds, /.uing 360

IT CARPETS THE FACE OF THE QRAY ROCKS,"

A FRUITING FROND.

HART'S-TONQUE fern. Scolopendrium viilgare.

IN THE HAUNTS OF THE HART'S-TONQUE.

curly QRA88. Srhizira fiusiil,,.

CLIMBING FERN. LygoJium patmatum.

A FRUITING PINNA. ...

" I COME FROM HAUNTS OF COOT AND HERN.'

ROCK BRAKE. <^rypiogramma airpslii /loiiiis.

KILLARNEV FERN. Trichomants radnuiis.

A FRUITING PINNULE.

TRICHOMANES PETERSII. Natural size.

' GREW A LITTLE FERN LEAF."

O8MUN0A. INITIAL.

OPHIOGLOSSACE/E. ...

OSMUNOACE/C. ...

SCHtZ/CACE>C.

HYMENOPHVLLACE/E.

POLYPODIACE/E.

SCHIZ.CA.

ONOCLEA.

8TRUTHIOPTERIS.

LYQODIUM.

OPHIOGL088UM.

BOTRYCHIUM.

POLVPODIUM.

PHEGOPTERIS.

NOTHOL/ENA.

TRICHOMANES.

PTERIS.

ADIANTUM.

PELL/fA.

CHEILANTHES.

CRYPTOGRAMMA.

WOODWARDIA.

POLYSTICHUM.

PAGE.

. 156

facing 356
facing 258

facing li/b
• 367

afg
facing 370
facing 178
facing »8o
aSi
a84
■Aft
i>87
a88
389
193
293
a94
a44
394
394
395
305
305
305
306
306
306
307
307
307
307
308
308
308
308
308
309
309

t I

( !

XII

ASPIDIUM.

CVSTOPTERIS.

WOODSIA.

DICK80NIA.

SCOLOPENDRIUM.

CAMPTOSOHUS.

ASPLENIUM.

ATHyRIUM.

LIST OF ILLUSIRA I IONS.

PAOK.

(»(

.!<«>
30
310

3""
110

3 "J

"The feathery fern, the feathery fern.
It groweth wild and it groweth free,
liy the rippling brook and the wimpling burn,

And the tall and stately forest tree ;
Where the merle and the mavis sweetly sing.
And the blue- jay makes the woods to ring.'"
And the pheasant tlies on whirring wing
Beneath a verdurous canopy.

" The feathery fern, the feathery fern.
An emerald sea, it waveth wide.

And seems to flash, to gleam and burn.
Like the ceaseless flow of a golden tide ;

On bushy slope or in leafy glade,

Amid the twilight depths of shade,

By interlacing branches made
And trunks with lichens glorified."

PREFACE

In recent years there has arisen a widespread interest
•n ferns from the popular point of view, creating a de-
mand for more detailed information regarding their
haunts and habits than is found in the text-boks de-
voted to the subject. It is the aim of the present volume
to supply this information ; and in such a manner that
while conforming strictly to scientific canons, it shall
make the way as smooth as possible for the beginner
whose desire is, first of all. to know the names of the
ferns.

Few families of plants are at once so generally
admired and so little known. Many whc have been
attracted to their study by the grace and beauty of
the individual species, have been prevented from con-
tinuing It by the apparent difficulties in the way Al
though we have long had manuals from which the names
of the ferns might be learned, the characters upon which
the Identification of the species is based are so different
from those employed in the better known flowerin-
plants, and the descriptions are written in such brief and
technical language, that they have served to discourage
all save the most persevering of students. As a mstter
of fact, ferns are probably easier to identify than flower-
ing plants when one knows how. and the knowing how
may be acquired with less labour.

After mastering the names of our ferns, the student
who has desired to go deeper into the subject and learn
something of their haunts, habits and folk-lore, has been

4 PRtHACb.

oblij;cd to seek liis knowledge in many buuks and
periodicals, some of which arc rare, others out of print,
and the majority ni forcitjn origin. A volunie wiiich
would brin;,' tiiese scattered facts together in convenient
form has been ^^reatly needed.

In comparison with other countries, our fern literature
is very limited. The history of American fern books
begins in 1878 with the publication of John William,
son's modest little volume on the "Ferns of Kentucky."
Tins went through three editions and has long been out
of print. It is remarkable that the few years imme-
diately following the appearance of this book should
form our most prolific period as regards fern literature.
In 1S79 John Robinson issued his " Ferns in their
Homes and Ours," a manual for the cultivator; in 1880
the first edition of Prof. Undervvood's text book *' Our
Native Ferns " appeared and during the same period
the two magnificently illustrated but expensive volumes
of Prof. D. C. Eaton's " North American Ferns " were
published. All of these have remained alone in their
special fields. For nearly twenty years, no fern book
that could compare with them in importance made its
appearance. Several minor works, however, treating of
the fern-flora of limited areas were published, chief
among which may be mentioned Dodge's " Ferns and
Fern Allies of New England," Lawson's " Fern-flora of
Canada" and Jones' " Ferns of the West." Still more
recently have appeared Mrs. Parsons' excellent " How to
Know the Ferns" and Miss Price's " Fern Collector's
Handbook." This completes the list of books, but a list
of American fern publications would scarcely be com-
plete without some mention of the Fer/i Bulletin which
enjoys the unique distinction of being the only journal

■f

PREFACE. ,

in the world devoted exclusively to ferns. In its pajjcs
now appears tlie bulk of the periodical literature of ferns.
Eifjht volumes have been issued.

In this book have been included descriptions and
illustrations of every species known to grow in North
America north of the Gulf States and east of the Rocky
Mountains, this area forming a mure or less natural floral
region. With few exceptions they have been treated in
related groups and arranged as nearly as possible ac-
cording to season, those first to fru't coming first in the
book. By means of the illustrated Key to the Genera
it is believed that no one will have difficulty in ascertain-
ing the name of any specimen he may find.

In view of the present unsettled state of botanical
nomenclature, it has seemed best to adopt, in this volume,
the botanical names longest in cotninon use. They will
certainly be less likely t.^ confuse the be-inner, since
they are the names used u a majority of fern students
and those by which the species are usually mentioned in
other books. Botanists have recently proposed many
changes in the interests of a more stable nomenclature,
but these changes have not been generally accepted.'
Until they have been, they cannot properly be used in a
volume of this nature. A complete account of these
changes, however, has been inserted in the text for
convenience of reference and in addition, a check-list has
been included at the end of the book, which gives the
other names by which the various species have been
known in America.

The early botanists were mainly engaged in describing
new species and have left for us the pleasanter task
of discovenng the curious and interesting facts about
them. In this direction still lies a practically virgin

6 PREFACE.

field. Our knowledge of spores and sporelings is far
from complete ; the protliallia of some species have
never been seen ; the phenomena of fern hybridization
have scarcely been touched upon ; while the study of
the natural variation in species will afford much profita-
ble work. There is also the ever delightful occupation
of exploring unfamiliar territory and the possibility of
thus adding to our knowledge of the distribution of
species. The range of each species has been given in
accordance with our present information, but it is ex.
pected that many will prove to be more widely dispersed
and that some now marked rare will ultimately be found
to be more abundant. I shall be pleased to receive
further information upon these points and will also
undertake to identify any ferns that may be sent me
provided that good fruiting specimens with rootstock,
when possible, be selected for the purpose.

In the preparation of this volume, I have had the
hearty cooperation of American fern students and take
this opportunity to express my indebtedness to them.
My thanks are especially due to Mr. William R. Majion
for data regarding the range of many species, to Mr.
George E. Davenport for verifying the nomenclature
of the Check-List, to Mr. B. D. Gilbert for carefully
reading the proof-sheets, and to Prof. L. M. Underwood
for much valued information.

WlLLAUU N. Clute.

Binghamton. N. Y.
April 12, 1901.

THE UNCOILING FRONDS.

" The vjreeii and graceful icni,
H(nv beautiful it is.
There's not a leaf in all the land,
So wonderful, I wis.

" Have ye e'er watched it hiHidincf,

With each stem and leaf ura|)|)ed small,
Coiled up witiiin each oilier
Like a round and hairy ball ?

" Have ye watched that hall unfolding
Each closely nestling curl
Its fair and feathery leaflets
Their spreading forms unfurl ?

" Oh, then most gracefully they wave
In the forest, like a sea,
And dear as they are beautiful
Are these fern leaves to me." — Twa.mi.ev.

THE UNCOILING FRONDS.

HE first call of Spring awakens the
Icrns. Before the last snow-banks
have vanished tronx the shady hol-
lows and while meadows are still
bare and the woods deserted, the impa-
tient young crosiers begin to stir the
dead leaves in sheltered nooks. By the
middle of April, in this latitude, millions
arc putting forth. Some, like tiny green
serpents, uncoil in the shelter of rock or
fallen log ; others hang from the shelves of mossy prec-
ipices; while still others boldly appear along woodland
streams, in fence corners and in open thickets, and soon
the whole under-wood is filled with their waving pennons.
When Thoreau wrote that " Nature made ferns for
pure leaves, to show what she could do in that line " he
voiced a thought which must often come to those who
contemplate this beautiful race of plants. Whether it
be a denizen of our own fields and woodlands or the
lordly tree-ferns of the Tropics, we are obliged to confess
that in these we have, indeed, " the proudest of all plants
in the structure of their foliage." All the grace and
beauty that may exist in mere leaves is here perfected
and the title of "Nature's lacework " is well merited.
Nature, however, is too clever to make all ferns beau-

THE UNCOILING FRONDS.

tiful. There arc many, especially in tropical countries,
that are coarse and u«jly, but so far as our own are con-
cerned, the few plain species make very welcome foils for

tlie others.

The fronds of a fern are essenti-
;^J^ ally complete in the bud and their
development into those graceful
and delicate objects that wave in
the summer breeze is mainly a pro-
cess of unrolling and expanding,
""ill those species that produce their fronds
in whorls or circles there may be seen
within the circle of expanded fronds, sev-
f._ eral circles of buds, each successively
"smaller toward the centre. These are
the fronds of comin;^ years and strik-
ingly remind us how many morrows the
,/ fern tribe is prepared for. Although
known as fronds, these organs are really
leaves and may be called leaves without
impropriety. They are, however, more
frequently called fronds, the expanded
leafy portion being known as the b/ade
and the stalk that supports it, the sti/>e.
The continuation of the stipe through
the blade, or beyond the beginning of
the leafy portion, is the rachis. Since
many species have no stipes, the use of
the word frond, to designate the blade
alone, is common. As regards the pro-
duction of fronds, our species may be
divided into two classes. In the one,
they are prodiced only in spring unless

A CliOSIKU.

THE UNCOILING FRONDS.

the first crop is destroyed, and commonly appear in cir-
cular clumps. This habit is nearly confined to species
with short, stout, slowly creeping rootstocks. In the
other, the fronds are produced throughout most of the
summer In the latter class, long, slender, extensively
creeping and frequently branching rootstocks are the

rule.

Nature's pattern for fern buds is the spiral. Indeed,
so inflexible is she upon this point, and so rarely docs
she adopt a similar pattern for other plants, that this
forms one of the chief characters by which the whole
fern tribe may be identified. No matter how varied in
outline or different in size the mature fronds may be, in
the bud all true ferns are coiled like a watch-spring.
And not only are the fronds as a whole coiled thus, but
each of the remotest divisions is rolled toward the i.ext
largest, these in turn toward the rachis, and then, begin-
nin'g at the apex, rachis and stipe are rolled down to the
crown. During winter, the buds are protected from the
cold and wet by a multitude of papery or hair-like scales,
usually tawny brown in colour. When the fronds de-
velop, these often remain upon stipe and rachis, adding
not a little to the picturesque appearance of the crosiers.
The down and hairs so common on the stems and leaves
of flowering plants are comparatively rare in the ferns,
scales taking their places.

There are nearly four thousand species of ferns in the
world, but an examination of the rocks has shown that
the present number is but a handful in comparison with
those that flourished when the earth was younger. In
the warmth and moisture of the long ago, they grew to
a great size and with the allied club-mosses and scouring-
rushes played an important part in the formation of the

THE UNCOILING FRONDS.

|i:

coal measures. The presence of great beds of coal in
lands that are now covered with ice and snow for a larye
part of each year, indicate that they once supported a
luxuriant fern-flora. Tiie temperature was then, of
course, much hi<;her. The tree ferns' descendants still
retain their love for warmth, shade and moisture, and
perhaps are still as abundant upon tropical islands as
ever, but there is scarcely a spot on the globe witliout
one or more species, unless it is an absolute desert.

Nearly all ferns are perennial, although individual
fronds seldom live more than a year. Many, even in a
climate like that of Canada, are evergreen. The tree-
fern with an erect trunk and a tuft of fronds at the sum-
mit is probably the typical form. Our common species
are supposed to be without trunks because they do not
rise above the eaith but one has only to dig up the
nearest species to find that if it has not a true trunk, it
has what is equivalent to one. This is usually a hori-
zontal axis, bearing the crown of fronds at one end antl
giving off roots especially from the under surface. It is
occasionally found upon the surface and seldom very far
beneath it. In some the axis branches and in most the
growing tip is advanced some distance each season, just
as the crown of the tree-fern is lifted higher in air. The
conditions under which our species exist, especially in
winter, are not favourable to the formation of aerial trunks
and they have therefore been modified for a life under
ground.

Ferns bear no flowers, — although one species is by
courtesy called the flowering fern— and " fern-seed " is
still as elusive and uncertain a thing as it was in the time
of the Ancients. Many absurd ideas were entertained
regarding it, some of which are mentioned in the chap-

THE UNCOILING FRONDS.

tcrs on the bracken and the lady-fern.
As a sort of extension of the " Doc-
trine of Signatures " it was assumed
that since the seed is invisible,
would rcmlcr its pos-
sessor invisible also. It
was supposed to have
many other virtues, and
could be obtained only
by the exercise of the
greatest care and endurance. An
old legend accounts for the fern's
lack of flowers by asserting that
all ferns bore them until the
Nativity. In honour of that
event, the plants that were mixed
with the straw in the stable put
forth their flowers. The ferns,
alone, did not, and were therefore
condemned for ever afterward
to be flowerless.

Even the early botanists rould not understand a proc-
ess which in such a mysterious way produced new plants
without the intervention of a flower. As late as 1828,
Sir J. E. Smith wrote of the idea that ferns do not bear
seeds, as follows:—"! see no advantage in applying a
new denomination to the seeds of these and other cryp-
togamous plants. Iledwig gave the Greek name sj^ora
to the seeds of mosses because he conceived them to
difTer in their structure and gcrmiiuition in some indef-
inite manner from seeds in general. The most malicious
rival of his immortal lame could not have i.nagined any-
thint: more subversive of that fame or of his luminous

FLOWERINQ FERN.

THt UNCOILING FHONDS.

discoveries." And a^^in : "The production of perfect
yerminatmir seeds contained in capsules .... is as
clear in ferns as in mosses though nothing is certainly
known of their stigmas any more than of their anthers
We arc nevertheless content to plead ignorance on the
subject and to presume by analogy that such parts exist,
rather than to assume the idea of some other mode of
nnprcgnation, hitherto unknown, wiiich would be going
contrary to the first principles of Philosophy."

What really happens in the generation of new ferns
and the way it is accomplished, is as follows. About
mid-summer, there appear upon the underside of the
fronds of most species, numerous small dots very reg-
ular in size and shape. These are the " fruit-dots" or
son (singular, sonis) and under a simple lens are seen
ilil^^W *° ^^ collections of tiny stalked globes.
zit^^^ ^" *''^ majority of cases, each sorus is
■•r. covered with a membrane called an
iiuinsium which conceals the tiny globes
until nearly ripe. In these globes,
collectively called sporangia, are pro^
^ duced many smaller one-celled bodies
known as spores. At maturity these
"spore-cases" open, and with a snap
scatter the spores upon the wind. Ordinarily they
germinate soon after leaving the capsules if a suitable sit-
uation is encountered, but failing in this, some species
are able to retain their vitality for nearly twenty years.
Spores must not be mistaken for seeds, however. In no
way do they resemble them except that they may serve
to carry the species through a resting stage, as seeds do.
When a seed is planted, a plant like the parent will
come up, but a germinating spore does not give rise to a

sor:

OF
ASPLENIUM.

THE UNCOILING FRONDS. ,j

fern. Instead, there appears a peculiar flat, {jrccn, heart-
siiaped body, scarcely a quarter of an inch across, known
as the J>ro//ia//m>u. On the underside of this are borne
two sets of orjjans and finally by a union of their contents,
a new fern is produced. It is small wonder that this
complicated process was so long a puzzle to investigators
of plants. The knowledge of the subject grew very
slowly. In 1648 the nature of the sporangia was first
made out, and in 1669 the spores themselves were dis-
covered. In 1715 Morrison Is said to ha\'e raised young
plants from spores but it was not until 1788 that the
office of the prothallium was known and more than
thirty years later before its development was observed.
Lastly it was not until near the middle of the nineteenth
century that the functions of the small organs on the
prothallium were discovered. The time required for a
fern to come to maturity from the .spore is from three to
seven years.

As may be imagined, many dan-
gers threaten the young sporeling,
and some species have devised vari-
ous " short-cuts " by which to avoid
the perils that often seem to threaten
the very existence of their race.
One of the bladder ferns produces
spores in abundance and in addition,
little bulblets grow from the under
surface of the fronds. The spores
are scattered far and wide and may
or may not land in a favourable place for germi-
nation, but the bulblets drop into the soil beside their
parents, ready to form new plants. It is interesting to
know that the first fronds from these bulblets are much

SORI OF POLY PODIUM.

THt UNCOILING J-HONIiS.

more mature f.ian the first ones from the prothallium
uiul will produce spores much sooner, being born
"grown up" as one might say. In this plant, the bul-
blcts seem to be the chief means of continuing the

species.while the spores
travel about seeking
new territory. Some
species send out stolons
which form new plants
at their tips ; others
produce tubers upon
their roots that may be-
come new plants ; and
still others root at the
tips of the fronds.
None of them, however,
VENATION' OF A PINNA IN ASPiuiuM. are lacking in the ordi-
nary means of propagation. A tropical species of
Ncphrolipis has both tubers and stolons.

A frond that bears sporangia is called fertile to dis-
tinguish it from the unfruitful or sterile ones. In a large
number of species the two are scarcely different, except
for the presence of sporangia, but in others the fertile
are more or less changed in appearance and reduced in
size.

When the blade of a frond is divided entirely to the
midrib, it is said to be pinnate and the divisions are
called pinme. When the pinnas themselves are divided
to the midrib, the frond is said to be hi-pinnate and the
second divisions arc called //«««/fj or secondary pinnce.
When frond or pinna is not completely pinnate, it is said
to be pinnatiful and the divisions are segments. A frond
may be several times pinnate or pinnatifid in which case

111 ,'

FIDDLE. HfcADS."

i'i

r f

I I

THE UNCOILING FRONDS.

»9

we have ultimate pinnules or ultimate segments for the
smallest divisions, though pinnule is often loosely used
to designate them all.

Another peculiarity of fern fronds is the way in which
they are veined. Instead of giving off branches at inter-
vals, as in flowering plants the veins fork near the base
and each fork may fork and fork again. Thus one vein
is usually equal to any iher in the frond. Commonly
the veins do not connect \ it h one ano. her, when they are
said to he free. If connecting they are said to he anasto-
mose and the meshes of the net-work thus formed are
termed areolcs.

Ferns are separated into families upon characters taken
chiefly from the rootstock, the manner of veining, and
the shape and position of the sori and indusia. The
indusium is a remarkably unvarying feature, and of itself
forms a kind of family escutcheon from which the genus
can usually be determined at a glance. Thus the indusia
in the Polystichums are circular ; in the Woodsias, star-
shaped ; and in the Aspleniums, linear. The distinguish-
ing characteristics of the other genera may be found by
referring to the " key " at the back of the book.

t .

^T-^r^ -

" Fair ferns and flowers, and chiefly that tall fern
So stately, of the Queen Osmunda named.
Plant lovelier in its own retired abode
On Grasmere's beach, than naiad by the side
Of Grecian brook." — WoRnswoRiH.

i M

^ THE OSMUNDAS.

MONG ferns as amonj^ flowering plants, there
[arc certai" species that so persistently force

themselves upon our attention as to make it
(almost impossible not to know them. The

members of the Osmuuda family belong to
JjT this class. From the time their stout woolly

crosiers peep from the ground in spring until
their pinnae are mingling with the falling leaves of au-
tumn, they are among the most conspicuous of our
native species. In everything the family runs to ex-
tremes. Their rootstocks are the largest, their crosiers
the woolliest, their fronds the tallest and their fruit the
earliest. They are also as common as conspicuous.
Every farmer and wanderer countryward is familiar
with their graceful forms, although he may have no
other name for tliem than "brakes."

The Cinnamon Fern,

Tlie best known of the Osiiniinitis is doubtless the
cinnamon fern (Osiniiiiiid cinnainouica). 't grows in
nearly every piece of boggy ground in the Eastern States,
neighbouring with the coarse herbage of the wild helle-
bore and skunk's cabbage, but is at its best in shaded
swamps and wet open woodlands where it forms jungles of
almost tropical luxuriance. Frequently it takes large

THB OSMUNUAS.

.areas to itself, stretching away for long distances in
level reaches of green.

The young crosiers or " fiddlcheads " begin to peep up
in plashy pastures before the grasj has turned green and
may be distinguished from all others by the dense coat
of silvery white wool in which they are clad. As the
weather warms and they expand into fronds, the woolly
covering turns to a tawny hue and gradually falls away,
although vestiges of it remain throughout the summer,
scattered along the stipe and in little bunches at the
base of each pinna.

The fertile fronds are first to appear, but long before
they have reached maturity the sterile have sprung up and
overtopped them. It is rare for any fern to produce its
fertile fronds first, and in the rapid development of the
sterile fronds this species seems striving to be like the
rest. An examination of the crown when the fronds are
uncoiling shows that the fertile and sterile fronds are
borne in separate circles and that the fertile belong to
the outer circle although at maturity they are invariably
surrounded by the sterile ones. The exchange is effected
by a sharp bend outward at the base of the sterile frond's
stipe but is so little known that nearly every one believes
the fertile fronds to belong to the inner circle.

Only one crop of fronds is produced each year, un-
less the first is injured or destroyed. The plant is not
to be caught unprepared, however, for nestling at the
crown of the rootstock are the buds for several years to
come. This central portion in all the Osinundas is known
as the " heart of Osmond." It is tender, crisp and edible,
tasting somewhat like raw cabbage, and is easily obtained
by pulling up the clump of half-developed fronds. The
operation, of course, destroys the plant.

CINNAMON FERN. Osmiiiuia ciHHaiiioiiu\i.

THE OSMUNDAS.

A FBUITINO PINNA.

When full grown, the sterile fronds arc often six feet
high with stipes a foot long, and spread out in circular
crowns like shuttlecocks or great green vases. They are
lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate in out-
line with twenty or more i)airs of nearly
opposite, lanceolate pinna; cut nearly
to the rachis into numerous oblong,
rounded lobes. The fertile fronds are
totally unlike them ; in fact, in this
species the difference between the two
is probably greater than in any other
American fern excepting, perhaps, the
little curly grass. They are stiff, club
like and cinnamon-coloured and are
very noticeable in the greening swamp-
lands of late spring. An examination of one of the woolly
pinnae composing these clubs will discover the counter-
parts of the ordinary green pinnae of the sterile frond
here reduced in area and covered with sporangia.

The fertile fronds are at first bright green. About the
last week in May, just as they begin to assume the
familiar brown hue, the spores are shed in myriads,
the slightest touch sufficing to shake down a sage-green
cloud. At this stage a pinnule presents a beautiful sight
under a simple lens. The multitudes of tiny globes vary
in colour from the deep green of the unopened spheres to
the sulphur-yellow or rich brown of older empty ones.
Many will be found partly open, disclosing the spores
within. Most species have brownish spores, but those of
the Osmundas are of a beautiful shade of green, due to
the amount of chlorophyll they contain. Perhaps because
of this rather perishable chlorophyll, they must germinate
within a few days after they are shed or they will be

THH OSMDNDAS.

powerless to do so at all. A si„,Ic frond will produce
many nuil.ons of spores and although the condit ons for
growth seen, j.st right when they arc shed, the com
parat.ve ly sn.all number of mature ferns indicate very
plainly tlut n.any dangers attend the sporeling. As soon
as the spores are shed, the fertile spikes wither and
have usually disappeared by the end of June

Under the frosts of autumn the pinn.e of the sterile
ronds tw.st and curl, and turning brown, soon loosen
f'om the radus. I he latter runan.s erect and bare all
winter m marked con'trast to some of the evergreen
spec.es.n which, although the fronds continue green, the
. finds early become unable to hold them erect

The rootstock of the cinnamon fern is doubtless larger
than that of any other American species. It is shaggy
vv.th the persistent bases of the fronds of other yearsand
creepsalong just at the surface of the soil. looking like a
great shoe-brush half buried in the mud. The strong
^viry roots are given off on all sides and many are obliged

to penetrate the bases of one
or more stipes before en-
tering the earth. One end
of the rootstock is annually
renewed by fresh crowns of
fronds and the other as con-
stantly dies. If no injury
hap])ens to the crown, there
seems nothing to prevent a
plant from living for centur-
ies. That some are very old, an examination of the root-
stock will show. A medium sized specimen often ex-
hibits the persistent bases of more than three hundre.l
fronds, to say nothing of those that have decayed an.l
disappeared.

THE CINNAMON FERN. Osmun.hx lintuviiomea.

THE OSMUNDAS.

The Osmundas, like other large ferns, are commonly
called brakes. The name, however, more properly be-
longs to the bracken which can show cause for bearing
it. In some of the Eastern States they are also known
as hog-brakes, the qualifying word given, apparently to
indicate their superior sire, just as the words dog, horse
and bull are applied to other plants. Occasionally they
are called snake-brakes, popular opinion ever associating
ferns and serpents. Nothing, however, can better show
how unfounded is the belief in connection with this
species than the fact that the Wilson's thrush and the
brown thrasher arc fond of choosing a clump of it for
a nesting-site, often building in the centre of the green
vase. It is doubtless this species that is coupled with
the serpent in the old rhyme

" Break the first brake you see,
Kill the first snake you see.
And you will conquer every enemy."

In the Old World it was once believed that biting the
first fronds seen in spring would insure one against the
toothache for a year. Our earliest species appear to lack
such desirable properties.

Occasionally in a clump of this species one may
chance upon a frond that is half-way between fertile and
sterile. This is the form frondosa. It is seldom twice
alike. The fertile portion may be at the apex, base or
in the middle, or scattered about the frond. It may be
common in a locality one season and rare the next. It is
apparently caused by some injury to the rootstock which
obliges the plant to turn the partly formed fertile fronds
into organs of assimilation and is of special interest to
the botanist for the relation it shows to exist between
the two sorts of fronds.

THE OSMUNDAS.

i :i

! li

The cinnamon fern is fairly well distributed in Eastern
America from Nova Scotia to Florida, MexiciJ, Nebraska
and Minnesota. It also grows in the West Indies. I
have collected it in Jamaica at an altitude of 4,ckx) feet
where it flourished in a sphagnum swamp, in company
with the stag-horn club-moss in the shelter of gigantic
bamboos. This species is in all probability the best
known of our native ferns.

T^e Interrupted Fern,

yVlthougli the first of tlic Osmitndas to appear in
spring and fairly abundant in northeastern America, the
interrupted fern {Osmnnda Claytoniana) seldom becomes
a reality to the casual observer because of its remark-
bly close resemblance to the cinnamon fern. Fairly good
observers have been known to pass it for years, under
the impression that it was only a peculiar form of the
latter. When both plants are in fruit, there is no chance
of confusing tliem, but when only sterile fronds are to be
had, they are not easy for the young collector to separate.
Further acquaintance, however, will disclose many little
points of difference. The experienced collector can dis-
tinguish either species at a glance.

The interrupted fern is less a lover of moisture than
its kinrlred, and while it may occasionally be found with
the cinnamon fern in some springy spot in the open grove,
its preference is for the fence-row and the bushy half-
wild lands that border so many of our back country
roads. Here it often thrives in the face of the most
untoward circumstances, frequently perched upon the
top of a half-buried stone pile, through the interstices of
which its strong roots ramify to the soil below. It is

THb OSMUND AS.

from some such situation as this that
the wise fern cultivator selects his
plants for the garden, for the labour of
removing the stones from about the
prize is much less than is required to
dig it up when growing in the soil. It
is as firmly anchored as any of its rel-
atives and does not come up whole
'A^ithout a struggle.

Both kinds of fronds begin to grow
at about the same time. Although
they are so nearly like those of the
cinnamon fern, the eye begins to note
slight dilTerences even before the frond
has unrolled as far as the blade, for
the stipes ar : greener, slenderer and
less downy. The sterile fronds grow
from a circle inside the fertile ones,
but as in the cinnamon fern they are
on the outside at maturity. The fer-
tile fronds are usually taller than the
sterile and remain green all summer.
Both kinds are oblong-lanceolate in
outline with about twenty pairs of pin-
natifid round-lobed pinna;. The spore-
bearing organs are produced near the
middle of the frond and consist of from
two to seven pairs of transformed
pinnae that look as if they might have
been bodily transferred from the spike
of the cinnamon fern. They look so
out of place in the middle of the green
blade that the uninitiated often take
them to be dwarfed or blasted pinn.-c

INTERRUPTED FERN.

Otmundn Ciaytflniana,
Fertile frunJ.

32 the: osmundas.

although ni reality ihcy are the most essential part of
the frond. The sterile fronds are broader and blunter
than those of the cinnamon fern and also lack the little
tuft of wool at the base of each pinna.

The fruiting pinn.ne are at first dark ashy-green and at
a short distance appear almost black, in pleasing contrast
to the golden-grcen of the rest of the frond. The spores
are often ripe before the tips of the fronds have unfurled
and the parts that bear them soon turn brown and
wither away. This species frequently presents curious
.Iransitions between fertile and sterile fronds. Some-
times all the pinnules on one side of the midrib will be
fertile and those on the other side, sterile ; or the dilated
green sterile pinnules will be scattered among the con-
tracted and brown fertile ones. Occasionally spores are
borne on the underside of the frond after the manner of
the polypody and most of our common ferns.

A strong plant will often bear fifteen fronds, half of
which are fertile. The sterile spread broadly outward
but the fertile are nearly erect with only the tips spread-
ing, making two tiers of green, the taller with a pretty
palm-like effect.

In folk-lore, the interrupted fern shares the honours
with the cinnamon fern, being so near like it. It is
found from Newfoundland to North Carolina, Missouri
and Minnesota and is reported to grow in India. From
the appearance of the fertile frond it was once called
O. intcrrupta. Its preference for stony soil is very
evident. With us it is sometimes called Clayton's fern.

T'he Flowering Fern.

The flowering fern {Osmiinda rcgalis) is the only
member of its tribe that is common to both Europe and

H i

i i

J ;

1 1

THE OSMUNDAS.

America. Across the sea it is reg.irdcd as their hand-
somest species and Withering alludes to it as the
" flower-crowned prince of British ferns." We who have
the ostrich fern, the Dicksonia and the cinnamon fern
may not be willing to accord the palm to this species
although it cannot be denied that it is a beautiful object
when growing in suitable situations with room for its
fronds to develop. The name of water fern, sometimes
applied to it, indicates its fondness for moist situations.
It loves to stand in shallow water and will generally be
found in places too wet for its kin.

The rootstock is frequently erect and, although it
seldom rises more than a foot above the surface, has
gained for the plant the name of tree-fern in some local-
ities. As the uncoiling fronds begin to rise from the
watery earth, the cobwebby wool that invested the cro-
siers falls away in patches, revealing the glaucous wine-
coloured stipes with their burden of pink or ochre
pinnae. As these expand, the bright green spore-cases
may be seen for some time before the uncoiling has
reached them, peeping through the sterile pinnae which
clasp them like chubby hands.

Full grown fronds often reach a height of six feet and
even taller specimens are recorded from England. These
great cool-green, twice pinnate fronds have little re-
semblance to those of the other Osmundas, or for that
matter to any other of our native species. The stout
shining stipe continues through the blade as the rachis,
giving off at intervals from five to nine pairs of opposite
branches. These in turn bear six or more pairs of ob-
long pinnules with finely serrate margins and heart-
shaped or oblique bases. The pinnules are usually
slightly stalked and those on one side of the midrib

Tilt OSMUNDAS.

alternate with those on the other. The pinna: antl pin-
nules are set at some distance from each other giving
the whole frond a lij^ht and graceful appearance.

The flowering fern produces a single crop of fronds
each season and forms a clump that is more pyramidal
than vase-like in shape. Apparently its lighter, looser
foliage makes it unnecessary for its fronds to spread to
catch the li^ht. The rootstock often gives off short
branches wliich form new crowns of fronds
close to the original one. Sterile and fer-
tile fronds are alike, except that in the
latter the several pairs of pinna; compos-
ing the upper part < ' the frond are
changed to spore-bearing organs after the
manner of the interrupted fern, and like
it, showing many curious gradations be-
tween fertile and sterile pinnules. Forms
..• have been reported with fertile pinnules

sj'OKK CASES, in the middle of the frond. The fruiting
panicle is bright green until the spores ripen. It then be-
comes rich brown in colour and bears no small re-
semblance to a panicle of small flowers, whence the well
known common name. The spores, as in the other
Osmundas, are green.

This species has probably received more common
names than any other. Royal fern, regal fern, king fern,
and royal Osmund have doubtless been prompted by
the same feeling that led Linnaius to give it the name of
regalis. Ditch fern is doubtless in allusion to its grow-
ing near water, while buckthorn orbuckhorn brake prob-
ably has reference to the appearance of the crosiers. It
has also been called French bracken, royal moonwort,
and St. Christopher's herb, the latter connecting it with
the legend of St. Christopher.

--♦'t?LL4r^

l^7^k

. '^i^V;i:/ .

"4 m'^m*^^^

'"'■' .^t

10^-

FLOWERING FtRN. Osinitfit/n rri^nfis.

iht OSMUNDAS.

The flower-
ing fern i s
pretty gencr-
ally distribu-
ted from New
Brunswick to
Mississippi, Nebraska and the Northwest
Territory. It is also found in Mexico,
Europe, Asia, and Soutli Africa, It should
b e looked for in the half shaded swamps
along the shores of lakes and ponds and
on the banks of streams. It will grow in
cultivation but must be given plenty of
water if one would have it produce the
great fronds that constitute its chief beauty.

This species was named from European material.
American plants present some .slight differences, espe-
cially in the texture of the frond and the proportionate
length of the stipes and may yet be proven to be a
different species. In this event, our plant would be
called O. spectabilis, having been described under this
name by Willdenow.

Authorities are not agreed as to the derivation of the
word Osmimda. According to Prof. Underwood, it is
from Osmunder a Saxon name for the god Thor. Others
derive it from " Osmond the water-man " of Loch Tyne,
who is reported to have hidden wife and child from the
Danes on an island covered with this fern. Prof. Meehan
has also pointed out that during the middle ages nodules
of iron ore were known as "Osmonds." Since these
frequently contained impressions of our fern he suggests
that the name may have originated in this way. There
are six species in the genus, mostly in the North Temper-

THE OSMUNDAS.

ate zone. With two additional jjcncra, of which we'.'.'
no representatives, they form the Order Osmundacea;
which differs from other fern-families principally in the
structure of the sporanfjia.

FLOWERING FERN. Osmumfa regalis.

THE RATTLESNAKE FERN AND THE
ADDER'S-TONGUE.

" The leaves of adders-tonj;ue stamped in a ston.; mortar and
boiled in olive oyle unto the consumption of the juice, and until the
herbs be dried, and parched and then strained, will yeelde most ex-
cellent greene oyle or rather balsame for greene wounds comparable
to oyle of St John's-wort if it do not farre surpasse it."— Gkkakue.

THE RATTLESNAKE FERN AND THE
ADDER'S-TONGUE.

DMIRERS of ferns have always been puzzled
to understand why ferns and serpents should
be so indissolubly joined in popular opinion.
Just as the average individual imagines every
species of snake to possess fangs and venom
and regards it as something like a duty to
kill it, so does he consider ferns to be the
natural protectors of these creatures and to be shunned
accordingly. This suspicion of the ferns may not have
originated as early as our antipathy to serpents, but it
seems scarcely less deeply rooted in human nature. We
have hardly passed the age when ferns were supposed to
be endowed with the power to work charms, discover
treasure and terrorize devils. It is possible that the mys-
terious way in which they reproduce their kind without
visible flowers and seed and the haunts they affect in the
dank thickets and gloomy ravines have contributed to
keep alive the superstitions concerning them ; but what-
ever the cause, several of these harmless plants are still
known as snake-brakes while the two to be mentioned
in this chapter have been singled out as special objects
of aversion.

The Rattlesnake Fern,

Probably there is no fern in whose haunts serpents of
any kind are less frequent, than the species which bears

42 RATTLliSNAKB FERN AND ADDER'S-TONGUE.

tlie terrifying name of tlic rattlesnake fern {Botrychium
Virginiamim). It is a woodland species but by no means
to be charjjed with harbouring the venomous serpent for
which it is named. It delights in dim moist hollows,
and is quite impatient of the sun, soon disappearing from
a locality wiien the protecting trees are removed.

In southern New York, the single fronds of this species
begin to push up about the last week in April. Unlike
higher types of ferns, they are folded rather than coiled
in the bud and come out of the eartli almost erect.
Many suppose that eacli plant has two fronds, a fertile
and sterile, but this is a mistake. There is but a single
frond divided into a fertile and sterile portion. The
sterile half expands soon after it appears above ground
but the fertile is most deliberate and requires full\- a
month longer to mature. In June the spores are pro-
duced and then, having fulfilled its mission, the fruiting
part begins to wither. It often disapj)ears by July, al-
though vestiges of it may be found on the frond ail
summer.

This species is often three feet high and when full grown

is a handsome plant. The sterile blade, borne some dis-

. tance above the earth by the fleshy stipe,

Jp spreads horizontally in a broad flat triangle,

*,?' and above it the fertile portion rises several

1^ inches. Tlie blade is usually described as ter-

f'^* nate, but it is easily seen that two of the

three divisions are really the enlarged lower

pair of pinna:. Calling these pinnae, the frond

is quadripinnate ; or tripinnate with pinnatifid

pinnai below, and once or twice pinn -le with

pinnatifid pinn.ne above. The segmehts are about ovate

in outline. The fertile part is two or three times pin-

8POR.VN(iI.V.

RATTLESNAKE FERN. Holncliiinn Virgini,nuim.

RATTLESNAKE FEKN AND ADDER'S-TONGUE. 4}

nate with double rows of sporangia along the nudribs.
Occasionally a plant bears two (er»'lc spikes. The spores
are abundant, bri^h. yellow, and escape from the cap-
sales through a narrow transverse slit. The blade is
noticeably thin and when dried is exceedingly delicate.

The rootstock is scarcely discernible, the stipe seeming
to spring from a tangle of thick fleshy roots radiating
horizontally a few inches underground. Next year's leaf
bud is enclosed in a hollow in the side of the growing stipe
at base, and its tiny stipe encloses a stiH smaller bud which
in turn encloses another, the latter destined not to develop
for three years to come. According to Campbell's
" Mosses and Ferns," the development of the sporangia
begins fully a year before the spores are shed.

Within our limits, this spe^ es never has more than a
single frond, except by accident, but in the West Indies
it normally appears with two. The author of the " Ferns
of Jamaica" remarks, ' There are two fronds to each
plant, one without and the other with, the fertile division."
The writer, who recently collected fine specimens in the
Blue Mountains of Jamaica, discovered, however, that
the fern is still true to its habit of producing but one
frond a year. The frond lacking the fertile division
proves to be the frond of the preceding year which the
mild climate allows to remain green until the next frond
is produced. The scar left by the withering of the fertile
spike is quite noticeable.

Another peculiarity of this species is the great disparity
in the size of fruiting plants and in the large proportion
of apparently full-grown specimens that are sterile. Some
bear fruit when but a few inches high, but others near by,
twice as lar-je, do not. The cause of this sterility in the
large plants is unknown unless it may be explained upon

Ill

llf

4.» RATTI.HSNAKJ-; FKRN AND AUDLRVTONGUE:.

the supposition that they rest in
alternate years. Somcthini; ol
this kinil is hinted to exist among
the atlder's-ton^ues, and as the
liotryihiums are closely allied,
they may have the same habit.

The name of rattlesnake fern is
probably due to the likeness
which may be fancied to exist
between the spikes of fruit and
the rattles of the serpent. It
is sometimes called the grape
fern, also in allusion to its clus-
ters of sporc-cases, but
this title more properly
belongs to a related
species. In the south-
ern Alleghanies it is fre-
quently known as " in.
dicator ' '
from the
supposi-
tion that
i t s occur-
rence indi-
cates the
proximity
of ginseng. Hemlock - leaved
moonwort and Virginia moonwort
are obvious derivations, the true
moonwort belonging to the Botry-

cliium family.
I

RATTLbSNAKE FtHN ANU AUDbR'S-TONGUE. 45

Our plant is found from New Brunswick to the Tropics
and the Pacific Coast. Throughout most of this rcyion
it is fairly common. It has numerous relatives but nonr
resemble it enough to be mistaken for it. It grows readily
in cultivation if given shade, moisture and a light soil.
Specimens that have been considered indentical with our
plant have been reported from Europe and Asia.

The Adder S'Tongue*

It is safe to say that the adder's-tongue {Ophioglossum
VH/ga/um) is much better known to the collector froni
pictures and herbarium specimens than it is from experi-
ence in the field. Although the plant is widely distrib-
uted and when found at all is likely to be abundant, the
many who have carefully and unavailingly searched their
localities for it are quite willing to admit that thisabund-
ance is not general. Still, it may happen after all, that
the plant has only been overlooked, for it is not conspic
uous, and some day when least expected may appear.
So the search continues. All who have once found it,
testify to the ease with which they subsequently find
other stations for it, and incline to the belief that its
single leaf is often passed under the impression that it is
the leaf of some flowering plant, such as Pogonia or the
two-leaved Solomon's seal. It seems a plant that one
must first discover by accident before he can find it by

intention. . .

Doubtless the most promising place to look for Jt is
among the grasses and sedges in moist meadows, but upon
this point there is considerable difference of opinion.
Some years ago, several writers gave their experience
in collecting it, in the Fern IhilUtin. One wrote that in
northern New York, he found it in "dry pastures, on and

46 RATTLESNAKE FtKN AND ADDER'S-TONGUE.

about hummocks of hemlock loam " and added " it is sel-
dom found in moist places." Another in Vermont says
"in old meadows, they will j;;row in Utile hollows where it
is richer and more moist " while still another in Kentucky
found it common '* in dry open woods" and writes that
" it may safely be looked for in red cedar groves," adding,
" 1 know few such places wiure it does not grow," In
contrast to these, Mr. A. A. Katon has found fine lar^'e
plants in seviii inches of sphagnum moss in New llamiv
shire swamps.

■^ The tallest specimens

are seUlom more than a
foot high while the great
majority do not attain to half this
size. The blade or sterile portion
is oblong, lanceolate or ovate, usu-
ally with a narrow
base, and is rather
fleshy. It is from two
to four inches long
and is borne low down in
the grass near the middle of
the coinmon stalk. The nar-
row fruiting spike is from
half an inch to two inches
in length and consists of two
rows of sporanges embedded
in the tissue at the top of
the stalk. This is a more

ADDKR'S-TONHl'K Hfhntghn.um vulgalmm.

PLATE I 1 HE ADDERS TONGUE Or'x.J.'^.m : ,..^.uu>n.

tTOMi» COUP*'**

RATTLESNAKb FbRN AND ADDER'S- rON(3UE. 47

primitive way of bearinjf spores tliaii is found in
most ferns and is considered an indication that the
Ophioslossums are very ancient forms.

The rootstock is short and produces many short fleshy
roots. Here and there adventitious buds may be formed
upon them and new plants result. In some species in
this genus, this is said to be the chief method of propa-
gation. The prothalHa are apparently .seldom developed,
perhaps because this way of getting new plants is so
much surer. The curious manner in which the adder's-
tongue appears and disappears in the same spot in differ-
ent years has given ground for the belief that the plants
occasionally rest for a season. It is also conjectured that
the prothallia may form resting bodies as the prothallia
of certain other species of ferns are known to do.

In 1897 a party of botanists found a colony of small
OphioglossHiHS in southern New Jersey, specimens of
which were subsequently described as O. ar'itarium.
This is apparently only a depauperate form of the com-
mon species due to the sterile soil in which it grows. It is
described as about half the size of vulgatum with a rather
lanceolate sterile portion in which there are from five to
seven basal veins. The describer writes of it " It seems
a little difficult to tell some of the young fronds of
O. vulgatum from the mature ones of O, arenarium, and
yet the extremes are so different and the habit and
habitat so distinct th^t I have concluded to retain them
as separate species. Thr O. arenarium has originated
from O. vulgatum and that intermediate forms may be
found in young or poorly developed specimens, does not
alter the view from the mo'leru standpoint of evolution."
It is probable that the majority of botanists would con-
sider this more properly placed as O. vulgatum annarium
and not as a separate species.

48 KATTLESNAKE FERN AND ADDER-S-TONGUE.

In America tlie adder's-ton<;ue is found from Canada
to Florida. Missouri and sparingly to California. In the
Old World it occurs in Europe. Asia, Africa and Aus-
tralia. Considerinjj its wide distribution, some difference
in specimens from remote points may be expected. In
the western part of our range, there is a form named
Engclmanni. It may be distinguished from the type by
the slender stipe and apiculate sterile portion with
broad areolae and anastomosing veins. It is found as
far east as Virginia. This also is prijbably a form of
vnli^iXtum and better characterised as O. vulgafiim lingcl.
maititi.

The common name of adder's-tongue is much older
than the scientific Ophioglossiim antl both have the same
meaning. .\dder's-spear, adder's-spit and other names
formerly in use, all refer to a fancied resemblance be-
tween the plant and the adder. The fronds were long
used as the principal ingredient in " adder" s-spear oint-
ment " to make which they were boiled with unsalted
butter. Drayton alludes to its use in the lines

•• For them that are with newts, or snakes or adders stung
He seeketh out a herb that's called adder's-tongue,
As Nature it ordained its own like hurts to cure.
And sportive, did herself to niceties inure."

There are about twenty species of Ophioglossum known.
In northeastern America, there is but a single species
unless the two forms noted should prove distinct. Three
other species are sometimes found in tropical parts of
the United States.

THE MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES.

I HERE w an herb, a»nio say,

wl)<»« virtur'A such
' It in the pastuw, »iily with
/^ a t»»uch

" Unshoeb the new-»h«d steed ."

fli

THE MOONWORT AND US ALLIES.

ITU the exception of the rattlesnake and
common K^ape ferns, the members of the
hotryihium family, altliouyh somewhat
widely dispersed in eastern America, arc
very little known, even to the botanizing
public. In the books they are usually set
down as rare, but whether this is really
the case, or whether their small size enables them to es-
cape observation, it is difficult to say. It is pos-
sible to find most of our ferns by diligent search in
suitable situations but the Hotryihiiiiiis usually elude
such attempts to discover them and are likeliest to
appear wiien one is looking for something else. Once
discovered, they are often 'found in considerable numbers
and are not rare in collections, although comparatively
few have seen them growing.

The Moomvort,

The moonwort {Botrychium Linmria) is a fat little
plant that delights to grow in old fields in many parts of
the world but is exceedingly rare in the United States.
Like all the Botrychiums it bears but one frond annually,
divided after the usual manner into a fertile and sterile
portion. This comes up out of the earth stiff and erect
altlu>ugh the tip of the sterile part is slightly bent down-

5-' THE MOUNWORT AND I IS ALLIHS.

W ward as if half inclined to coil

^*/' after the manner of the true ferns.

It seldom grows more than a few
incjjes hij^h. twelve inches beinj;
probably the maximum height.
%ll I''*-' lilade is usually sessile, longer

than wide, and borne at or above
tin- middle of the stem. It is
usually pinnate, though some-
what ilisposed to var>-, and his
from two to eight pairs of lobes
or pinna: which may be set close
together or some distance apart.
In outline, they are fan-shaped,
or with a rounded outer edge
which gives them enough {\u shape of a
half-moon to suggest the common name.
The fertile division is sometimes no longer
than the sterile and is twice or thrice pin-
nate. The frond is annual, dying at the
approach of winter. The bud for the next
yiar is enclosed in the base of the stipe.

In the Old World, this plant was once
held in great repute for its suppcjsed power
of working all sorts of wonders. Its olil
names of "blasting-root" and '"spring-
were given it under the impres-
sion that the strongest locks would
give way if it were merely brought
in contact with them. To a more
matter-of-fact generation it will
doubtless seem strange that no one
thought to make a test of its pow-

wurzel

TUB MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES.

crs and so set the matter at rest. The old bounwt,
Culpepper, who wrote about 1650, says of the moon-
wort's reputed power to unshoe liorses " Moonwort is an
herb which they say will open locks and unshoe such
horses as tread up..n it; the^ • some laugh to scorn,
and these no small fools neither, but country people
that I know, cal it Unshoe the Hoise; besides I have
heard commands say that on White down in Devon-
shire near Tiverton there were found thirty hors-shoes
pulled from the feet of the Earl of Essex, his horses
being there drawn up in a body, many of them but newly
shod and no reason known which caused much admira-
tion ; and the herb described usually grows upon heaths.
Another ancient writer has done the idea into rhyme, as

follows ; —

" Horse* that feeding on the grassy hills.

Tread upon moonwort with their hollow heels.

Though lately shod, at night goe bareloot home.

Tlicir maistcr musing where thir shooes be gone.

O m )onwort. tell us where thou hid'st the smith

Hammer and pincers thou unshodst them with.

Alas, what lock or iron engine ist

That can thy subtile secret strength resist. •

Sith the best farrier cannot set a shoe

So sure, but thou so shortly cans't undoc." . ,. #

There was. however, some protest against these beliefs
as may be seen from this quotation from Parkinson. "It
hath bcene formerly related by impostors and false
knaves, and is yet believed by many, that it will loosen
lockes. fetters and shoes from those horses feete that
goe in the places where it groweth ; and have been so
audatious to contest with those who have contradicted
them, th.it they have been known and scene it to doe
so ; but what observation soever such persons doe make,
it is all but false suggestions and meere lyes." Accord-

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THE MOONVVORT AND ITS ALLIES.

"ig to tlic " Doctrine of Signatures - the shape of its
p.nnules showed this plant to be under the influence of
the n,oon and therefore good for all diseases of a peri-
odic character and especially valuable for the cure of
hmacy vvh.ch was sup,^sed in some way to be caused
by that lunnnary. fo be efficient, it had to be gathered
at full moon and by its light. b*«-"crea

" Then rapidly with foot as light
As the young musk roe's, out she flew,
To cull each shining leaf that grew
lieneath the moonlight s hallowing beams."

The moonwort is a boreal species. It is found in
Greenland. y\laska and in the United States as far south
as Connecticut, New York, Michigan and Colorado
Near Its southern limits it is extremely rare, the records
usually resting upon a very limited number of specimens
In British America it is said to be not uncommon It is
also found in Northern Europe and Asia. Across the
water its habitat is given as " open heaths, moors and
elevated rocky pastures." It is regarded as "local
rather than rare" in England.

T^he Common Grape Fern,

The common grape fern {Botrychinm obliqunui) is not
rare in eastern America, but owing to its retiring dis-
position cannot always be found when wanted. It de-
lights to grow in half-cultivated lands where some
friendly rock or stump protects it from the tread of cat-
tle and the implements of the farmer. One often f^nds
.t as he climbs over an old stone wall or crosses a bushy
pasture, especially if the spot be moist, but on other
occasions he may search the countryside in vain for
specimens.

THE MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES. jj

The tri.mi^Hilar, much divided blade and heavy fruiting
panicle of tills species gives it consiilerable superficial
resemblance to the rattlesnake fern but there is little
chance that they will be confused in the field. The
rattlesnake fern has shed its spores and the fertile part
has withered and gone, long before the grape fern has
thought of coming up. Of all our species, this is latest
to appear. Often it does not start into growth until
late in July and the spores are not ripe until September
or October. It also has the distinction of being our
only evergreen Botrychium. At the approach of cold
weather the fertile portion decays while the sterile merely
takes on a rich bronze hue and braves the frost and
snow. In late fall and early spring it is quite con-
spicuous and the collector often locates his specimens at
such seasons, returning later to collect them. The old
frond usually remains until the new one has developed,
just as that of the rattlesnake fern does, further south.

The grape fern is from six to eighteen inches in height
and quite fleshy. The blade approaches the triangular
in outline and springs from the common stalk near the
base. It is itself long stalked, the latter feature serving
to distinguish it from its allies in northeastern America.
There are six or more pairs of stalked pinn.-E each of
which is again pinnate with lobed or incised pinnules.
The blade is frequently described as ternatc, because the
lowest pair of pinnai are nearly as large as the rest of the
frond. The pinnules and segments are quite variable in
shape and cutting and these differences are often con-
sidered of sufficient importance to warrant the making
of numerous varieties or even species. Tlie sterile part
of the frond spreads nearly horizontally but the fertile
is much taller and quite erect. The latter is about three

THH MOONVVORT AND ITS ALLIES.

times pinnate. The plant often shows a
remarkable tendency to double the fertile
spike, and specimens with three complete
fertile panicles, each on a separate stalk,
are not rare.

The rootstock, as in all the Botrychiums,
is short and sends out numerous fleshy
roots. The base of the living stipe com-
pletely encloses the buds for succef>ding
years. Frequently the buds for four
years to come may be discerned. The

rootstock is reported
to occasionally bear
two fronds as the ad-
der's-tongue does.
Throughout most

■^^iS^^^^i^^prWii* of the grape fern's
''Wlj^^^i^'- range.especially near

""" " the seaboard, there
-^is an interesting va-
riety whose principal
difference is that the foliage is very finely
dissected, the ultimate segments ending
in slender Y-shaped divisions, that give it
a very fine and lace-like appearance. This
was formerly known as the variety d/s-
scctnm but some botanists now incline to
give it specific rank. If this is a distinct
species, its resemblance to
B. obliqHiim is truly re-
markable. It affects the
same habitats, fruits at
the same time and has the
same trick of waiting until

COMMON OR.VPE FKKX. /.•,./;.•.///„,/, ollioi.un,

THE MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES.

July to produce its new frond. The sterile part
is also evergreen. Intermediate forms are not
uncommon and the geo<jraphical distribution is
essentially the same. In view of these facts, it
seems best to regard it as only a variety of
obliquum. It probably attains its best devel-
opment in places where there is more moisture
than is agreeable to the type. Along the coast
it is nearly as plentiful as B. obliquum and pro-
duces luxuriant deeply-
cut blades. Inland the
blade tends to become
less dissected.

Until recently botanists
have considered our spe-
cies a variety of Botrych-
ium ternatuni. The latter
was discovered in Japan ^j^^
by Thunberg and there'''^*^5
seems to be good reasons
for believing ours to be a
different species. It is found from New
Brunswick and Ontario to Minnesota, Mex-
ico and Florida, frequenting shady fencerows
and swampy woods. There are four forms
in the West and one in the South that are
closely related to our species and are often
classed as varieties of it. Small forms from
New York and New England are sometimes
referred to B. Matriairiie of Europe,
and a form with larger blades on
shorter stalks is the form interme-
dium. The species and the varieties

ilii

Bot rye Ilium oHiquum ilhsectutn.

THE MUUNWOkT AND ITS ALLIES.

take kn.dly t.. cultivation if taken up witl. plenty „f
soil and. after replantin- kft to themselves
resent any dijjijing about their roots.

They

T/)c Little Grape Fen/.

The little grape fern {no/ryr/uu,u simplex) is amone
the rarest of our Botrychiums. Whether this is alone due
to .ts small size, or whether it really is rare in the south-
ern part of its range, we have scarcely
enough data to decide. It has been re-
ported from a few localities in Massachu-
setts, Connecticut, New York. Marvland and
Wyoming and appears to increase in num-
bers- as we go northward. In Dodge's
-^ " ^''^"'■"' '"^'1 I'^''" Allies of New England "
^1'' ; It is reported as "abundantly scattered
raf ^ over Vermont, its habitat usually poor soil,
especially knolls of hill pastures." liy oth-
ers the habitat is given as "moist woods,
meadows and swamps."

Mature plants are usually less than three
., inches high although lu.xurjant specimens

•bT may reach twice that height. The plant
/ n\ ''■'« «i reputation for being extremely varia-
m ble as may be judged from this description
y/f t'lken from a recent botanical work. "Ster-
ile portion ovate, obovate or oblong, entire.

iiTTrRrp.m-V''"' "'' I^''^"''»*^'y Pnrted, borne near the'
•-■KRN-. i>o,ry,h. D'^sc ot ilie stcui or liiglicr, sometimes above
"""""'^'"- the middle: fertile portion a simple orslightly
compound spike, sometimes reduced to only a few sporan-
gia. Spores large for the genus." Six varieties have been
described but it is not difficult to select a complete suite

THE MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES.

£tMSitn^

of intcrgradiii^ specimens. The plant is quite fleshy
and usually has the sterile part stalked and attached to
the main stem near the base. It also occurs in Europe.

The La7ice- Leaved Grape Fern,

In some parts of its range, the lance-
leaved grape fern {Botrychittm lanceola-
tuiii) is very abundant but it is not un-
common for collectors to search for years
without finding it. As yet, compara-
tively little is known about its habitats.
In Canada it is said to grow on "the
shaded mossy banks of streams and in
rich moist woods and low pastures." In
central New York it is reported to be
found " in shade, but generally in shaly
soil that is almost barren of undergrowth
and has but a slight covering of vegetable
mould." In Pennsylvania the author has
seen hundreds of these plants growing in
the rich moist hollows of beech and maple
woods at an altitude of about 2,loofeet.

The underground portion of this spe-
cies consists of a tangle of stout roots, one
of which, descending perpendicularly,
gives off irregular whorls of other roots, at
intervals. Single roots are frequently sev-
eral times longer than the part of the
plant above ground. The frond is some-^
what fleshy and from three to nine inches
high with the sterile division sessile near
the top of the stem. It is somewhat ,,ancf..i.eaved
triangular in outline with two or more '^Mum^/I'^^aifium'

THH MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIRS.

pairs of opposite piniuu, the lowest pair, of course, much
the largest, as befits a Botrycliitim. The pinna: arc them-
selves usually piiinatifid with lobed or sharp-toothed seg-
mcnts, but show a decided tendency to vary. In jjeneral
aspect, the blade resembles a very small specimen of the
rattlesnake fern. The fertile portion but slightly overtops
the sterile and is twice or thrice pinnate. In the southern
part of its range, the spores are ripe about the last week
in July.

Ihitrycliimn laiiccolatum is found from New Jersey,
Oliio, Colorado and Washington to the far north. South-
ward it appears to be an ujiland species and should be
sought in moist level stretches of deciduous woods. In
such places it is often found very plentifully over several
acres. One of its constant companions is the rattlesnake
fern. The species is also found in both Europe and Asia.
The illustrations for this and the following species were
drawn from specimens collected by the author at Ararat,
Penna., where they were found growing in company.

Matricary Grape Fern,

All that has been said of the lance-leaved grape fern,
may with equal trutli be applied to the matricary grape
fern {Rotrychium tnatricariccfoliuni) with which it is al-
most invariably associated. Good botanists have often
held that the two are but different forms of the same
species. There are many intergrading forms, but each
type remains faiily constant in a few particulars that
seem to warrant us in considering them distinct. The
most important is the difference in the time of fruiting.
The present species fruits nearly a month earlier than
lanccolatnm, its spores often ri[)ening by the middle of

i'^

PLATE il. THE MATRICARY GRAPE FERN lloKyJiium i,uU>i.„ri.if\'/ui,n.

LOPYtilGHT, fJOl. BY rHEOEMICf A STOkE ', (OMP*'*"
PRlSTFD IS AMERCA

I SI
:;u:l

l.!|

THE MOONWORT AND ITS AI.LItS.

June. It is also a tailcr. ncshicr plant
and rather the more coimnoii of tlic
two.

The fronds are from four t(. twelve
inches high and the blade, which is in-
clined to be ovate in outline, is situated
a short distance below the fruitin^j
spike. In small plants it may be only
pinnatifid but in the larger species it is
usually twice pinnate. In all. the fina
divisions are rather blunt. The fertile
portion is usually taller than the sterile
and twice or thrice pinnate. The ster-
ile division differs from that of lameola-
turn m being stalked after the manner
of B. obliquum although the frond it-
self is more nearly like that of /,'.
Lunar ia.

In North America this species has
the same range as B. lanceolatum and
in Europe both species are found to-
gether. Recently botanists have ques-
tioned the identity of our species with
the European one. If they are not
the same, our plant would be known
as B. iiegUctunt.

In 1898 Mr. A. A. Eaton discovered
in a New Hampshire sphagnum swamp
a large number of peculiar Botrychi.
urns which have since been described
as a new species and named Botrychium
taiebrosum. Many botanists incline to
regard these specimens as forms of B.

MATRICARY (iKAHE FRRN
^"tryc'uum M„lyu,,r,,,/oi,um.

THK MUUNWURT ANlJ Us Al.Ul.S.

matncnucjolmm that have grown in situations unsuitcd
to then. liuy would therefore seem n.orc properly
named /.". mn I ruanu folium Uiubrosum.

The smallest a.c only an inch 1,1^1, with tiny
threadlike stems and minute fertile and sterile parts
while the laryer sometimes reach a knythof nine inches'
I li.y can hardly be calle.i nine inches Ingh, since in such
si.cc.mens the stem is usually decumbent with two or
three inches of the stipe under ground.

Like /;. sitnpUx, this form is ex-
tremely variable. In speaking of it at
the Boston Meeting of the Fern Chap-
ter in 1898. Mr. Eaton said : "The av-
erage ht i<:ht above ground is tw«)
inches and most commonly the sterile
lamina is sessile or sli;^ditly stalked, less
than one cpiarter of an inch long, the
edge inflexed and top bent down just
as it covered the fertile divison. .
In this state the sterile division bears
one lobe or notch on each side and the
ape.x isemaiginate. Often it bears a
sporangium and may even bear one or
two on each lobe. From this there
may be found a regular series up to
the fully developed form, one and
three fourths of an inch long, of which
three fourths of an inch is petiole.
There are in this two or three pairs of
^«/rt.,///«w„M/r,,,.>^,>. scmi-lunate lobes, the lower of which

folium tentbrosum. i. , i ii ,

are alternate and all decurrent. . . .
In small specimens the fertile division is overtopped by
the sterile, but in the larger plants, the sterile division

THE MOONWORT AND ITS ALLIES.

reaches only to the base of the fertile. The latter varies
in size from a short stalked division bearing one or two
sporangia to a spike two inches in length." Mr. Eaton
writes me that tetubrosuin can always be distinguished
from its allies by the notch in the tip of the sterile portion
and by the spores which are nearly twice as large as
those of simplex. The plant's small size and variable
nature have caused it to be regarded as a variety of B.
simplex also.

Tenebrosum grows on the borders of maple swamps.
Where the earth is deeply covered with leaves, many
specimens arc never able to reach the light and air, but bear
fruit, nevertheless. Thus far it has been reported from
Vermont, New Hampshire, M; ssachusetts and New
York. It is likely to be found elsewhere within the
range of the other small Botrychitims. In some spots,
two hundred and fifty specimens have been collected in
an hour. Our illustration was made from specimens col-
lected by Mr. Eaton.

The name of the genus is derived from a Greek word
meaning a bunch of grapes and was given to this family
in allusion to its clustered spore-cases. There are twenty-
five or more species, widely scattered on the globe. In
America, they are exceedingly variable and present some
puzzling questions to the student. " Judging from size
and external appearances alone," writes Prof. Under-
wood, " a regular gradation of forms might be arranged
from the most diminutive undivided fronds of B. simplex
to the largest of B. Virginianmn.

" As a coming screen grows the bracken green ;

Up springcth it fair and free,
Wfiere in many a fold, grotesque and old,

Twineth the hawthorne tree ;
A covert meet from the noontide heat,

Or should you steal anear,
You may chance to discern, neath the spreading fern.

The antlers of the deer.

" It boasteth a name of mystic fame,

For who findeth its magic seed
A witching and weirdly gift may claim.

To help him at his need :
Unseen, unknown he may pass alone

Who owneth the fern-seed's spell ;
Like the viewless blast, he sweepeth past.

And walks invisible !

" Have ye to learn how the eagle fern

Doth in its heart enshrine
An oak tree like that which the hunter Hearn

Haunted in days ' lang syne ? '
An oak tree small is repeated all

Complete in branch and root.
Like the tree whereunto King Charles did flee.

When pressed by hot pursuit.

" O eagle fern, when I thee discern
When thy withered leaf I meet.
In places the careless foot might spurn.

The crowded mart or street,
Thou takest me back to thy birthplace fair,

Where thou wavest in thy pride.
And the form of the hare and the deer's close lair
Doth mid thy stems abide."

—Mary Isabella Tomkins.

1'!^*!

THE BRACKEN.

r is no easier to account for the likes and
dislikes of ferns, than it is for those of
more highly organized beings. Our ferns
annually cast their spores by millions
upon the wind to be sown broadcast, but
the majority have seldom been able to
get beyond their rather restricted limits,
although the adjacent territory seems just
as favourable to their growth. There are
a few conspicuous exceptions to this rule,
however, such as the cosmopolitan polypody, bladder
fern and maidenhair spleenwort, but none of these are
at home in so many places as our single representative cf
the brackens. There are nearly a hundred other species
of this genus scattered about the world, but our plant
has a wider range, both geographically and altitudinally
than all the rest of its family together.

Wherever the bracken {Pteris aquiUna) grows, it forms
a conspicuous feature of the landscape. In British song
and story it is constantly associated with the wildness
and desolation of heath, moor and mountain side.

" The heath this night must be my bed
The braclccn curtain for my head."

sings Scott, while Cowper, drawing a picture of untamed
nature, speaks of

" The common overgrown with fern, and rough
With prickly gorse. "

7°

THE BRACKEN.

Less mention of this species is made by our own
writers, though it is surely not for lack of occasion, as it
fills a distinctive place in our scenery. It is perhaps the
commonest American fern. Found both in the wood-
land and the open field, its favourite haunt is in neither,
but in that half-way ground where man leaves ofT and
Nature begins— the copse or thicket. Unlike most
ferns, it seems to care little for shade. Given a scrubby
hill-top or a neglected roadside half grown up to weeds
and bushes and the bracken is sure to be there. It is
the dominant fern of the half reclaimed lands. Indeed,
it is said that the word brake, by which the fern is often
known, is from an old Saxon word for fallow or clearing
and that it was given to this fern because it is the first
green thing to spring up in such places after they have
been burned over. The word has since come to be
applied, though less properly, to many of our larger
ferns. The prevalent idea that brakes differ in some
mysterious way from true ferns is without foundation
in fact.

The most prominent characteristics of this fern are
strength and coarseness, qualities well in keeping with
the tangles in which it dwells. In eastern America it
seldom grows more than three feet high with fronds that
spread more than a yard across, but in more favourable
localities it reaches a much larger size. Specimens thir-
een feet Ion- have been recorded from Ireland. Wil-
hamson not., that in the Alleghanies it covers large
tracts and becomes the favourite haunt of the deer
Although the bracken is not particular as regards habitat
.ts presence is supposed to indicate a thin and barren soil.

The rootstock is black, smooth and about as thick as
It is rather deep in the earth and

ones iittle-finfier.

THE BRACKEN. 7>

creeps for long distances. A good stron;^' plant fre-
quently has a rootstock measuring twenty feet or more
in length. In endeavouring to avoid obstructions in the
soil, it has been known to go to depths of fifteen feet.
It branches freely and secondary rootstocksare frequently
given off from the base of the stipes.

Although very abundant in northern countries, this
species is quite sensitive to cold. A late spring frost
frequently cuts down the young crosiers and the mature

BRACKEN, ritrii aquilina. Lower Pinna.

fronds early turn brown under the frosts of autumn
although they commonly remain erect for most of the
winter. The crosiers are quite characteristic and easily
distinguished from all others. They are covered with a
fine silvery-gray pubescence and the three divisions un-
rolling separately from the stifT stipes look not unlike
the claws of some large bird. No doubt this accovmts
for the name of turkey foot fern, sometimes applied to it.

THt BRACKEN.

The fronds are produced all summer, rising from the
rootstock at intervals of from six inches to six feet.
They are triangular in outline and ternately divideu ;
that is, the lowest pair of pinna are so much larger than
tiie rest, that the frond appears as if made up of three
nearly equal divisions. Counting these lowest divisions
as pinna;, the frond is three times pinnate below and
passes by every gradation upward to the pinnate apex.
In very large specimens the basal pinnules on the lower
pmns are again lobed or parted, making this part of the
frond nearly quadripinnate. The pinnules are narrow
two or three times longer than broad and set fairly close
along the midrib.

The fruit is borne in a continuous narrow line on the
margin of the pinnules and is covered by an indusium
formed of its rcflexed edges. There is said to be a
second mdusium, also, attached within the receptacle and
spreading beneath the sporangia but this is not to be
discerned in most specimens. When young the outer
mdusium forms a silvery-white edging on the underside
of the pinnules, but as the spore-cases mature, they peep
from under it, and turning a deep rich brown, cause the
frond to look as if embroidered.

The bracken has many common names. Brake,
bracken and eagle fern are the only ones in ordinary use
111 America. The last, as well as the specific name
aqiiihna, is supposed to have been given to the plant
from some eagle-likc characteristic, but whether this is
found in the claw-like crosiers, the broad fronds like an
eagle's wings, or the spread-eagle which some fancy they
see in a section of the stem, is not apparent. Erne fern,
an old name for this species, is merely another variation
for eagle fern, erne or heme, signifying eagle. The name

THK BRACKEN.

of umbrella fern refers to the spreading character of the
fronds, and oak fern is another allusion to the appearance
of a cross section of the stem. In Arkansas it is reported
to be called upland fern. The word bracken forms part
of many English surnames, and fern, farn and fearn,
probably referring to the same species form part of as
many more.

The superstitions that cluster about the bracken are
very numerous. A cross section of the stem presents a
curious arrangement of the vascular tissues which some
have likened to the letter C. Accordingly the plant was
supposed to be good to protect one from goblins and
witches "because it bears the initial of
Christ upon its ;o6t." The "canny
Scot," on the other hand, sees in this sec-
tion the mark of the devil's hoof. The
appearance may also be fancied to resem- i\l|
ble an oak tree and is frequently called
" King Charles in the Oak." One an-
cient writer says, " If you cut the root of
the bracken slantwise you will see the
picture of an oak tree. The more per-
fect the representation, the more lucky
you will be." By others the arrangement was held to
form the initial of one's sweetheart.

The smoke from burning ferns also had its virtues.
Parkinson says, " The fume of feme being burned, driv-
eth away serpents, gnats and other noisome creatures "
and that "the sent of it is very gratefuU to the brtine."
In the seventeenth century it was customary to burn
the bracken when rain was needed. It is said there is
still in existence a letter from an early English king, who,
desirous of having fine weather during his visit to Staf-

'KING CHARLES
IN THE OAK.-

THE BRACKEN.

fordshire. enjoined the High Sheriff to forbear burning
the bracken. •

The bracken is also the species originally reputed to
bear the "mystic fern seed " and was called the female
fern. According to tl,c legend, fern seed could be ob.
tamed from this

" Wondrous one-night-secding fern "
only on midsummer eve.

" But on St. John's mysterious night,
.Sacred to many a wizard .spell.
The time when first to human si^jht
Confcst, the mystic fern seed fell :

t'i

i I
i

MI seek the shaggy, fern-clad hill
Where time has delved a dreary dell
IJetitting best a hermit's cell ;

And watch 'mid murmurs muttering stem

The seed departing fronj the fern,

Ere watchful demons can convey

The wonder-working charm away.

And tempt the blows from arm unseen

Should thoughts unholy intervene."

At dusk the plant was supposed to put forth a small
blue floucr which soon gave place to a shining, fiery seed
that r-ened at midnight. If it fell from the stem of its
own accord and was caught in a white napkin, it was
supposed to confer upon its possessor the power to be-
come invisible. Thus one of Shakespeare's characters is
made to say,

" We have the receipt for fern-seed ;
We walk invisible."

For anotlicr way of obtaining fern seed, I quote an
ancient authority. "Although that all they that have

THE BRACKEN.

written of herbes have afTyrmcd and holdcn that the

brake hath nether st.de nor frutc, yet have I dyvers

tymes proved tlie contrarryc. ... I have foure yeres to.

gether, one after another upon the viyill of Saynte Jolin

the Baptiste . . . soughte for this sedc of brakes upon

the nyyhte and indeed found it earlye in the nioruynge

before the daye brake. The scde was small, blackc and

Uke unto poppye. ... I gathered it after tins ni.inner.

I laid shetes and mollcn

leaves underneath the

brakes which receyved

the sede that was by

shakyng and beatynge

broughte out of the

branches and leaves. . .

I went about this busy-

ness, all figures, conjur-'^^^^

ings, saunter's charms,

wychcraft.andsorcerycs

sett asyde, takyng wyth

me two or three honest

men to bere me com-

panye." If the charm failed to work, no doubt it was

because all " sorceryes " were " sett asyde." Those who

observed all the rules and waited for the small blue

flower, no doubt came home disappointed, " Watching

the fern," as this practice was called, had too much of

black art in it to suit the Church, and in France a Synod

condemned all who should gather ferns or fern seed on

St. John's eve.

This is also one of the few species for which uses have
been found. As a packing for fruit, fish and vegetables it
has the reputation of keeping off mildew and decay. In

A FRUITING PINNA.

THh BRACKKN.

I-«.ropc. .n times of scarcity, tlic roots have been ground
a.u m.xed with flour in niakintj bread, and also brewed
w.tli the beer. The yount' crosiers n.ay be cooked and
eaten like asparagus. It is said that these are often
offered for sale in the Japan.-se markets. The fresh
plants contain much tannic and other acids and have
been used in tanning light leathers. In Scotland they
were formerly burned while green and the ashes n.ade
into balls and used instead of soap. The fronds make a
brisk fire, and accordin- to Withering, have been used
for burning limestone. The ashes have also been used
in making glass. Mouses have been thatched with the
fronds and m many parts of the world they are cut as a
bedding for stock.

Urn nquilina /'in,,fo,,,iui.,la. Lower I'i

" In June and in Aujrust. as well doth appeare
Is best to mowe brakes of all times of the ycere."

The bracken is seldom found in the fern garden, per-
haps because it ,s so common in field and wood as to

THE BLACKEN.

almost justify its being considered a weed. The great
spreading fronds, however, arc not without their place in
effective plantings. The species is one of the most diffi-
cult to transplant. The long running rootstock can
rarely be taken up entire and those who can make it grow
in new quarters regard it as an accumplishment. It is
about as hard to start in a new place as it is to root it
out when it has once obtained a hold. Those who intend
to cultivate it should take up very small plants with
plenty of earth early in spring. A few months will suf-
fice to produce fine large fronds.

In dry sandy soil there is a variety of bracken known
iA pseudocaudata which differs from the type in its longer,
narrower and more distant pinnules. It is found from
Long Island to the Gulf of Mexico and Arizona, and is
especiJ abundant in the pine barrens. The part of a
frond sh Am is from a Long Island specimen collected
by the author. I* has frequently been confused with P.
caudata, a species common in the Tropics and which also
occurs in the southern part of the United States. In
western America the common bracken gives way to the
variety known as lanuginosa or pubescens which in ad-
dition to being much taller is densely woolly underneatji.

The generic name, Pteris, is an ancient name for ferns
in general, from a Greek word meaning a wing. Its
application to this class of plants, containing as it does so
many feathery forms, was exceedingly appropriate. The
term is now restricted to the bracken far.iily. Since our
plant differs from other species of Pteris in occasionally
possessing a second fugacious indusium it has been pro-
posed to place it in a separate genus as Pteridium but
this seems an over refinement.

THE BRACKEN ROOTSTOCK.

THE CLIFF BRAKES.

Far upward 'neath a shelving cliff
\Vhere cool and deep the shadows fall,

The trembling fern its graceful fronds
Displays along the mossy wall. ■

The wildflowers shun these craggy heights—
Their haunts are in the vale below ;

But beauty ever clothes the rocks

Where Nature bids the ferns to grow.

Let others cull the flowei., that bloom
By wood and field, by stream and hedge ;

For me there grows the dainty fern
That droops upon the stony ledge.

0-'

'm\

THE CLIFF BRAKES.

HE bracken is now considered to
be the sole representative of its
genus in northeastern America.
Time was, however, v.hcn other
species were chissed with it, but
owing to some slight differences
in the manner of fruiting, these
latter are now placed in tiie genus
Pi'llwa. Superficially examined,
the fruiting seems to be identical,
but there is this difference : in
Pteris the sporangia are borne on
a continuous rccrptacle connect-
ing the ends of the veins, on the
margin of the pinnules; in Pclld'a
the sporangia are borne in dot-
like masses at the ends of free
veins, inside the margins.
The indusia are similar
and when the spore-cases
of Pcllaa are ripe, they
frequently appear to form
a continuous line,
as in Pteris.

WINTER BRAKE. Ptlltta atropurpureu.

v^r

THE CLIFF BRAKES.

T^he Winter Brakt,

Those who dwell in other than limestone regions, have
not a very good chance of finding the winter brake
{PcUiea atropnrpurea) at home. It is not entirely con-
fined to calcareous rocks, but its occurrence upon other
kinds is sufficiently rare to be noteworthy. Next to
limestone, its preference is for sandstone, though even on
limestone it is peculiar in its choice of situations and is
common only here and there. It seems impatient of
deep shade and not very particular as to moist i.e, in this
showing one of the bracken's traits. It often thrives on
dry cliffs in full sun.

Several things combine to make the winter brake a
striking species. Especially is this so in regard to the
colours it displays. The short creeping rootstock is
covered with hairlikc, bright brown scales, the stipes are
dark, purplish brown and the fronds are bluish green,
quite unlike the hue of ordinary species.

The blade is about as long as the stipe, the whole frond
measuring from four to eighteen inches in length. In a
general way the blade may be described as twice pinnate
below, grading upward to the pinnate apex, but it is
noted for its irregularity. Small fronds may be twice
pinnate and larger ones simply pinnate ; an entire pinna
may stand opposite a pinnate one ; one side of the
secondary rachis may bear lobed pinnules and the other
entire ones, while eared and forking pinnules are com-
mon. In sterile fronds the pinnules are oval or elliptical,
but the fertile, which are somewhat taller, have broadly
linear pinnules, due to the fact that part of each margin
is reflexed to form the broad indusium. The infant
fronds are undiv.'ded and nearly circular in outline, the

■ ^-'VVi^^'

,pO"^

WINTER BRAKE. Pellua uiropurpiirea.

THE CLIFF BRAKES. gj

next to appear are eared at base and in those that fol-
low, the ears grow more distinct until tliey become sep-
arate pinnules. One fancies that all the pinnules of a
large frond were successively cut off from the terminal
one in this way.

The fronds remain green through the winter, the
leathery texture of the blades enabling them to endure
the cold, while the rootstock, which is frequently on the
surface. IS warmly wrapped in its protecting scales.
When the fronds die, the pinnules drop from the rachis
leaving the new growth surrounded by an unsightly
tangle of dead stems.

From the colour of the blade this is often called the
blue fern, while the colour of the stipe has suggested the
specific name atropiirpiirea as well as the common one of
purple-stemmed cliff brake.

The winter brake is found in suitable situations from
British America to Georgia, Northern Mexico and Cal.
ifornia. Its natural habitat is rocky ledges, though it
occasionally grows upon the masonry of bridges and
other structures. Notwithstanding its predilection for
limestone, it thrives in cultivation in any good soil if
not kept too wet. A fruiting pinna of this species is
shown in the Key to the Genera.

The Slender Cliff Brake,

The slender cliff brake {Pcllcea gracilis) is even more
closely associated with the lime-tone than its relative.
There appears to be no record of us having been found
on any but rocks of this character. In southern New
York it grows on shales that contain but a small percent-
age of lime, which seems to be as far as it ever gets from

THE CLIFF BRAKES.

hi:

its natural place of ^irowtli. It is a frail and delicate
species, little fitted to battle with wind and weather. It
therefore seeks the shelter of shady dripping ledges and
spreads its thin veiny fronds in the dim ligiit, covering
the shelvinj,' crags with graceful drapery.

The fertile fronds are taller than the sterile and more
erect. Occasionally they may reach a length of nine
inches although usually not more than half so long. The
blade is l.mceo'ate, and, in heavily fruited fronds, twice

pinnate with linear pinnules.
When less fruitful the frond is
usually simply pinnate with ovate
pinna,' cut into oval or lanceolate
segments, the terminal one longer
and narrower than the rest. The
sori are close to the margin and
covered with a broad and con-
spicuous indusium usually extend-
ing entirely around the pinnule.
The sterile fronds are generally
simply pinnate with pinnatifid
pinnai and broad, obtuse seg-
ments which are entire or irregu-
larly notched. The stipes are as
TIP OK FKRTii.E FROND ^^"S OT longer than the blades
ENi.AKGED. and are straw-coloured. There

seems to be a complete gradation from wholly sterile
fronds to those most heavily fruited.

This is one of our most delicate species and is able to
live only in deep shade and moisture. It withers at the
first si-n of dryness, often disappearing by the first of
August in situations subject to summer drouths. The
greater part of its range appears to be north of the United

s^/ .•

SLENDER CLIFF BRAKE. Pdlcni :^rnci'i^

THB CLIFF BRAKKS.

States. The most southern stations arc in
rcnnsylvaiiia, Illinois, It)\va and Colorado,
mostly in cool and olevatcd regions. It is
quite remarkable that this thin-frondcd
plant which seems so little adapted to e.\.
tremes of temperature should be found on!-
in cold northern countries. It is plentiful on
the sides of many ravines in Central New
York especially in the habitats of the hart's
tonjjue. it grows in Northern Asia, also.

The systematists have had much trouble
in placing this species satisfactorily. It was
long known to American botany as Pteris
gracilis. Later it was callctl Pillica gracilis
and until recently was known by that name.
Then it was changed to /'. Stcllcri and still
later placed in another genus as Crypti)-
gramma Stcllcri. It is likely that the ntajor-
ity of botantists will continue to call it
by the name we have given at the beginning
of this description. The plant figured was
collected near Binghamton, N. Y., at an
altitude of about 900 feet.

The Dense Cliff Brake,

The dense cliff brake {Pclhca dcusa) prop-
erly belongs to the northwestern p.irt of
North America, being found frt>ui California
and Colorado northward to Alaska, but it
also strays as far east as Mt. Albert in
Quebec. In this ])art of its range it is ex-
tremely rare. Only one other eastern local- ^vaw ,,',»«,.. Fertile

Frond.

THE CLIFF BRAKES.

ity is known for it, namely near Durham, Gray county,
Ontario.

This species grows in the crevices of rocks in moun-
tainous districts. The rootstock is rather small, and the
wiry, purple-brown stipes, several times longer than the
blades, arc densely tufted. The blades are ovate-tii-
angular in outline, pinnate at the summit and often four
times pinnate at the base. So great is its tendency to
fruit that sterile fronds are seldom seen. When they do
occur, the pinnules are somewhat broader than those of
the fertile fronds and are sharply serrate. In fruit the
narrow pinnules are recurved over the sori in such a
manner as to have the appearance of sharp-pointed,
linear, half-open pods. They vary in length from a quar-
ter to half an inch and are placed very closely together.

There are upwards of fifty species of Pellaa. The ma-
jority are inhabitants of warm regions. In California
and the Southwest, there are about a dozen species, all
found in rocky places. Some grow exposed to the full
sun and during drouth curl up and become dr>' and
brittle. When rain comes again the apparently dead
fronds unfurl and take up vigorous life once more. The
generic name is from the Greek and means dusky, in
allusion to the stipes of most species.

11:

Across the mountain's crest of stone
Behold ! an emerald garland thrown
In many a fold, as soft and fair
As day-cloud idly lingering there ;
And now it ripples in the breeze
That scarcely stirs the forest t.ses ;
And now it shimmers in the light
In hues of brown or silvery white.
TW'Ould seem a vandal act to tread
Where such a dainty fabric's spread.
15ut drawing nearer, we discern
Naught save the banners of the fern ;
The Woodsia fern that scorns to dwell
By shaded cliff, in sliadowy dell,
But on the gray ridge rooted fast.
Fears neither sun nor tempest's blast ;
And is, like pillared saint of old.
In summer's heat, in winter's cold,
Content above the world to brood
In silence and in solitude.

THE WOODSIAS.

HE fern c ^Hector who lives in a
region abounding in shaded
ledges of limestone may count
himself fortunate, since it is in
such places that the families
'^^PIESB^^^^ °^ rock-loving ferns attain their
' ^ ' JzWM^K^mLr' best development. Rocks of

any kind, however, unless per-
fectly dry and exposed to the
full sunshine, have strong at-
tractions for ferns and even the
v" / ' sunny cliffs are not always un-

/ tenanted, so that all are worth

searching. Explorations of this
kind are among the most pleasant phases of botanizing.
There is such an attractive element of chance in it. It
is possible that we may find only common species, but it
is also possible that the next turn in the cliffs or a
climb to a higher ledge may bring to our hand some
rare and graceful denizen of the rocks for which we
have long been looking.

T/)e Rusty JFoodsia,

An interesting little member of one of these rock-
loving families is the rusty woodsia {Woodsia Ilvensis).
In its chosen haunts it has few companions and no com-

THE VVOOUSIAS.

i
'i f;

l)clitor.s, for it elects to dwell in places where most others
cannot exist. It delights in the very crests of exposed
precipices, often throwing in full sun. In the region
about Little Falls. N. J., it is an abundant and character-
istic species, <;rowin<j in dense tufts on the rugged trap-
rock hillocks. A climb up the loose and crumbling
ledj^es is not without its adventures, but one feels fully

repaid for the scramble by the first
sight of the woolly little plants at
the top.

It is a decidedly social little species
and is usually found with rootstocks
and fronds so matted and inter-
twined that it is difficult to decide
how much belongs to any one plant.
The rootstocks nestle in the shallow
crevices and produce fronds all sum-
mer. The young crosiers are cov-
ered with a dense coat of silvery-
white, hairlike scales and present an
attractive picture when unfolding
amidst the browns and dark greens
of mature fronds. Doubtless this
nairy covering is of service in pre-
venting too great evaporation dur-
ing the heat of summer. On old
fronds the upper surface is usually
little if at all hairy, but underneath,
they are so woolly that the fruit-dots
are almost concealed. At maturity
this wool turns to a rusty brown and gives occasion for
the common name.

RTJSTV WOODSIA.

THE WOODSIAS.

ROOrSTOCK.

The stipes are comparatively short and
remarkable for possessing an obscure^
joint an inch or more above the root-
stock, at which point they separate when
the fronds die, leaving the bases as a sort
of stubble still attached to the rootstock.
Thissingle characteristic may bed'^pended
upon to distinguish the species from
Clu'ilanthcs vestita, a fern which other-
wise very much resembles it, even as to habitat. The
fronds seldom attain a length of more than eight inches
and the average length is several inches less. They are
rather stiff, long-lanceolate in outline and pinnate with
numerous pinnae that are themselves cut nearly to the
midribs into short, rounded, close-set lobes. Occasion-
ally the lobes nearest the rachis are distinct.

The sori are borne on the backs of the veins on the
underside of ordinary fronds and near the margins, but
owing to the hair-like scales by which they are sur-
rounded are seldom very noticeable. They are round in
shape and have the indusium fixed underneath the
sorus. The indusium, however, is scarcely entitled to the
name except by courtesy. It consists simply of a few
slender hairs which curve over the sporangia in youth
" as if attempting to protect what they cannot conceal."

Woodsia Ilvensis is a .lorthern species, being found in
Greenland and throughout British America as well as in
northern Europe and Asia. In the United States it
ranges to North Carolina and Kentucky and while it is
by no means a common species, it is abundant in certain
localities. It is found upon various rocks but seems to
have a preference for those of igneous origin. In Canada,
it is reported to lose its fronds at the approach of winter,

THE WOODSIAS.

iiliii':

but further south it appears to be half evergreen.
Among its common names are oblong Woodsia, hairy
Woodsia and hair fern. A living plant of this species is
illustrated in the initial design for this chapter.

The Obtuse Woodsia,

The obtuse Woodsia ( Wiwdsia obtusa) is the only com-
mon member of the genus in eastern North America.
It is to be looked for on shaded ledges and in the loose
talus at the base of cliffs and seldom occurs in the ex-
posed situations affected by Ihriisis. When it docs find
itself in the sun, the change is apparent at once since it
takes on a yellow-green colour and becomes thicker and
more erect.

In length the blades vary from six to fifteen inches.
They are oblong ovate in outline and once pinnate with
triangular-ovate, rather distant pinna.'. The pinna; are
pinnatifid, or pinnate near the base, with oblong, slightly
lobed pinnules and segments, lioth pinnules and pinnae
are quite blunt. This feature is one of tlie points by

which it may be distinguished su-
perficially from Cystoptcris fra-
gilis with which it is very often
confused. The stipes are about a
third as long as the blades, light
in colour and bear scattered
brownish scales. Similar scales
are found on the rachis. The
blades are nearly always minutely
glandular-hairy and the rootstock is short.

The sori are round and borne near the edge of the
segments on ordinary fronds. Under a lens they are
among the most beautiful of their kind. As in all the

FRUITING PINNA.

I) I

OBTUSE WOODSiA. IVoadsia ablusa.

|ff»!

! ii'i

THE WOODSIAS.

IVootisias, the indusium is fixed to the frond underneath
the sorus. In the beginning, it surrounds the sporangia,
but early splits into several scgr-nts which spread out
m star shape when the sorus co:.siderably resembles a
small green flower, the indusium answering to the corolla
and the sporangia to the essential organs.

The range of the obtuse VVoodsials almost wholly in
the United States. One station in Nova Scotia is all
that IS known beyond our limits in the East. Southward
It extends to Georgia, the Indian Territory and Arizona
It IS also reported from British Columbia and Alaska. It
may occur on any shaded ledge but it is not always to
be found in what appear to be suitable situations. It
IS usually less common than its counterpart, Cystopteris
fragilis. In the southern part of its range, the fronds
arc evergreen but their texture would indicate that this
condition does not prevail northward. A small and
more glandular form has been described as the variety
glandulosa. The common form in fruit is illustrated in
the Key to the Genera.

In the West the obtuse VVoodsia is represented by
two other species which are occasionally found as far
east as northern Michigan. The first of these, Woodsia
Oregana, is chiefly distinguished by its narrower blade
covered beneath with flattened hairs and stalked glands,
Its oblong-ovate, toothed pinnze and the much narrower
segments of the indusium. The second species, Woodsia
scopuhna, has shorter, nearly smooth fronds, with tri-
angular-ovate pinna: the lowest of which are noticeably
shortened. The indusium, which consists merely of a
few hair-like divisions, is difficult to see in ordinary speci-
mens. In appearance and habitat, both species are
much like the obtuse Woodsia and at various times have
been described as varieties of it.

THE WOODSIAS.

If:

i i!

T/jc Alpine If^oodsia,

The rare little alpine Woodsia
{IWnuhiit hyperborca) is an inhabitant of
the colder parts of both Kurope and
America. It is usually supposed that
it was first discovered in the United
States by C. CI. Trin^le at Willouj^hby
Mountain in Vermont, but it was col-
lected in the Adirondack Mountains in
New York by Prof. C. H. Peck nearly
ten years earlier. At that time the
specimens were referred to IV. glabclh
and it remained for B. D. Gilbert to
discover their identity. His announce-
ment of this, however, was somewhat
later than Eaton's announcement of
Pringlc's discovery. It has since been
found at a few other stations along our
northern border in Maine,
Vermont and New York. In ^^
these, it is never found ex-
cept at considerable eleva-
j^- tions and is always so rare

^ as to be considered a great

ALPINK WOODSIA. . , ., ,, ,

u-oojuu hyttrhor,,,. pnzc by the collector.

The largest fronds arc scarcely six inches
long and half an inch broad and grow in little
tufts from a short rootstock. They are linear-
lanceolate, pinnate with ovate or ovate-oblong
pinnae cut nearly to the midrib into rounded
lobes. The blades are smooth or slightly
chaffy and the indusium consists of a few hair-
like processes that radiate from beneath the

'Of

UbfUbt WuuD5iA, Woodsia obtusa.

I n ; If

I HI

■I

THE WOODSIAS,

round sori .is in JT. Ilviitsis. The stipe is brown and
jointed near the rootstock.

Many botanists have considered this species but a
smooth form of W. llvensis. Except for its size and lack
of scales there is very little to distinguish it from its
larger relative. Its habitat is reported to be on moist
rocks. North of the United States, it is found sparingly
from Ontario to Labrador and Alaska. The plant was
for a long time known among botanists as Woodsia alpina.

The Smooth Woodsia,

The smooth Woodsia {\Voodsia glabella) is nearly
allied to the alpine Woodsia and is found in the same
places. It may be distinguished by its shorter fronds,
fan-shaped, often three-parted, pinnules with toothed
margins and by the straw-coloured stipes.
Like W. hyperborca it is also found in Europe
and although probably mort plentiful than its
ally, is nowhere common. Mr. W. W. Eggles-
ton, who has had abundant opportunities for
studying these rare ferns in the field, writes
of them in the Fern Bulletin as follows : " Many
of our best botanists collect both, thinking
they have nothing but this species \Jiyperborea
{alpina)]. Alpina, however, has a black or
brownish rachis with scattered palaceous hairs,
while that of glabella is entirely smooth and
green. Alpina, also, has a larger, coarser ap-
pearance in the field. . . . We are more often
deceived, now, by smooth forms of llvensis
than hy glabella ; in fact, some smooth forms of
the former require an expert to separate." fertile frond.

100

THE WOODSIAS.

Tlic smooth VVoodsia is found from New Hampshire,
Vermont and Northern New York to the far North and
Northwest. Our illustrations of this species and of W.
hyptrborca were made from specimens collected in
Vermont by Mr. Eggleston.

The genus Woodsia was named in honour of Joseph
Woods, an English botanist. It contains a dozen or
more species all confined to the colder parts of the
world.

f 1^

--0

rx^

V (u-

SMOOTH WOODSIA. U'lhxhi.i t;/>i/<,/la.

• s

THE CHRISTMAS AND HOLLY FERNS.

When frost has clad the dripping cliffs
With fluted columns, crystal clear,

And million-flaked the feathery snow-
Has shrouded close the dying year ;

Beside the rock, where'er we turn.

Behold, there waves the Christmas fern.

No shivering frond that shuns the blast
Sways on its slender chaffy stem ;

Full-veined and lusty green it stands,
Of all the wintry woods the gem.

Our spirits rise when we discern

The pennons of the Christmas fern.

With holly and the running pine
Then let its fronds in wreaths appear,

'Tis summer's fairest tribute given.
To grace our merry Yuletide cheer.

Ah, who can fear the winter stern

While still there grows the Christmas fern.

THE CHRISTMAS AND HOLLY FERNS.

OWEVKR much \vc may admire the
summer species, we can scarcely
fail to have a higher regard for
those sturdy ferns that remain
through cold and snow to make the
woodlands and thickets less dreary.
For the most part they are among
our coarsest species— delicate fronds
have little chance against the frost
—and for this reason are likely to
be overlooked or neglected in a
milder season. But when in dark and stormy weather
the green fronds wave us a welcome from icy ledge or
snowy thicket, the day seems suddenly to brighten.

Foremost among our winter species must be placed
the members of the Polystkhum family. These are often
classed with the wood ferns in the genus Aspidium or Dry.
opteris. The wood ferns indeed are their nearest relatives,
but there is this important difference between them : in
the Polystichuins, the sori are round and covered with a
circular indusium which is f^xed to the frond by its de-
pressed centre ; while in the wood ferns, the indusium is
usually reniform and attached to the frond by the sinus.
Like the wood ferns'these species are sometimes called
shield ferns and buckler ferns.

lo6 THE CHRISTMAS AND HOLLY FERNS.

The Christmas Fern,

To the hunter, the trapper and the rambler in the
winter woods, the Christmas fern {Polystichum acrosti-
choidcs) is a familiar species. In summer it is not espe-
cially noticeable, but in the snowbound season, the
cheerful, fresh-lookin-; fronds are sure to attract the eye.
It is a most abundant species and suitable localities within
its range where it cannot be found are exceedingly rare.

All the Christmas fern's fronds are produced early in
spring. They rise in circular clumps from a stout root-
stock and when uncoiliii are thickly covered with silky-
white scales that make them conspicuous objects in the
vernal woods. As the fronds mature, the scales turn
brown and many remain upon rachis and stipe, especially
the latter, through the season. The fronds occasionally
reach a height of three feet, and arc thick, narrowly
lanceolate, acute and once pinnate. The numerous
narrow pinnules have finely serrate margins and are
arranged alternately on the rachis. Each has a triangu-
lar car on the upper side at base. The fertile fronds are
taller than the sterile and differ in having the upper
third or half suddenly decreased in size, this part bear-
ing the sporangia. The sori are arranged on the under
surface in two or more rows lengthwise of the pinnules
with two other short rows on the earlike projections.
They are partly formed before the fronds unfurl and
ripen early in the year, being among the first of our
species in this respect. The sporangia early push out
from beneath the peltate indusia and make the fruiting
pinnules look like littk assemblages of tiny brown ant-
hills. One of these pinnules is shown in the Key to the
Genera.

CHRISTMAS FERN. Pofystkhum acrostichoides.
Fertile and Sterile Fronds.

rWE CHRISIMAS AND HOLLY FbKNS.

107

The variety incistim is frequently
found with the- typical plants. It is
distinguished by the deeply toothed
pinnules and by the way in which the
sori are borne. Tiiesc are not confim.-d
entirely to the narrowed upper part of
the frond, but continue downward on
the tips of the other pinniu, {^rowing
fewer in number toward the base. In
rich shady woods.onc sometimes comes
upon another form which is here named
variety crispum. In this
there seems to be a super-
abundance of tissue in the
fronds and the pinnules are
beautifully crisped and ruf-
fled. It is by far the hand-
somest of the common forms
and does not lose its peculiar
characteristics under culti-
vation. Fronds are oc-
casionally found with
the pinnules again pin-
nate.

Owing to the endur-
ing nature of the fronds,
they have been exten-
sively used in floral dec-
orations in recent years. Millions
of them are now used annually
in all our large cities. It is doubtless
from this use of its fronds during
the winter holidays that the plant
derives its name of Christmas fern

Polyttichum acrosiickoHfs incitum.

lo8

THE CHRISTMAS AND HOL

NS.

The fronds of an allied species are
similarly used for decorations in the
West.

The Christmas fern is found from
southern Canada to I'loriila, Missis-
sippi, Arkansas and Wisconsin. Its
favourite liaunt is prob.ibly a rocky
"side liill,'" slopin^f away from the
south and covered with a variety of
deciduous trees, but it does not disdain
the cvertjreen woods or even the scrub-
by roadsides. Even after the shelter-
ing copse is cut off, it manages
to exist for some time in the
sunlight though witii stunted
and dull coloured fronds. In
tlie West, our species is repre-
sented by r. vtuiiittim which
has the same cared i)innules and
Kioks much like it but lacks
the narrowed tips in the fertile
fronds. Our plant is frequent
■:-->« ~ „— > '» out-door cultivation, its hard-
"^''^V^^---l '"^"^^ making it one of the most
%^^|'^^>- s.itisfactory species for this
purpose.

The Holly Fern,

It is quite in keeping with
our ideas of such matters that
the lioUy fern iPolyslichum
loncliitis) should be an ever-
green and nearest of kin to the

<sm>0

ll'>I I.V FKRN.

PLATE 111. THE CHRISTMAS FERN /\>iystuhinu ,urostirfu^u1fs.

THE CHRISTMAS AND HOLLY FBKNS.

109

Christmas fern. Half the appropriateness of the name
would be lost if the plant droi)pccl its fronds at the
beginninjj of winter. Its name, however, was not given
because of its presence during' the holiday season, but
because the pinnules are set with bristle-tipped teeth
which gives them a considerable resemblance to holly
loaves. That it loves the cold, is shown by its range
which extends over the northern parts of both Hemis-
pheres. In America, its southern li lus are nearly
identical with the northern limits of the «Jhristmas fern,
as if Nature had assured herself that there should be
no rivalry, by keeping separate two species so nearly
alike.

The holly fern is rather smaller than the Christmas
fern but in many ways suggests the relationship. Like it,
the fronds are narrow, lanceolate, once pinnate with
(jarcd pinnules, and grow in circular clumps. They difTer,
however, in the shorter, broader and scythe-shaped
pinnules, in the basal ones being reduced to small green
triangles and in producing sori on the backs of ordinary
fronds. The pinnules are often so closely set as to over-
lap and the margins are sharply toothed. The stipes
are also shorter. The sori are confined to the upper
part of the frond and are arranged on the pinnules in
two rows midway between the margin and the midrib,
and also on the eared bases.

This species is found in most of British America, being
rarest in the Southeast. It does not occur in the Eastern
United States but is found sparingly in Wisconsin, and
in the West extends as far south as Utah and California.
It is a lover of the rocks, its favourite dwelling place
being the talus of broken stone at the base of shaded
cliffs.

THE CHRISTMAS AND HOLLY FERNS.

K^-i

r»?

162^.

rotytiiiltum Braunii.

Brauns Holly Fern,

The last of this trio ui Poly stic hums
— P. Braiinii—ia, like the holly fern,
an inhabitant of the more northern
partsof our continent. It is a sin-
gularly decorative and beautiful
species and belongs to a type that
is found the world over. The typ-
ical species is called Polystichtan
aculeatum and our plant was long
the ight to be a variety of it. It is
now considered by most botanists to
be a distinct species.

The rootstock is short and thick
and the fronds usually reach a height
of two feet or more. Tiiey are lan-
ceolate in outline on short stipes
and twice pinnate. The pinnse are
linear-oblong, usually acute, and
broadest at base, their ovate or ob-
long divisions appearing like small
duplications of the holly fern's pin-
nules, even to the ear on the upper
side at base. Both stipe and rachis
are densely clothed with short hair-
like growths as well as with the
ovate, brown scales common to its
allies. The sori arc on the backs of
ordinary fronds and not very con-
spicuous. The fronds '■emain green
through the winter but the stipes are
unable to hold them erect. On ac-
count of the resemblance of the pin-

THE CHRISTMAS AND HOLLY FERNS. iii

nules, the holly fern was once believed to be an immature
form of this species or of the closely allied, /'. acuUatuvi.
According to Dodge's " Ferns and Fern Allies of New
England," this species is common along the mountain
brooks of northern New England. In Canada it is found
sparingly in the Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Sco-
tia and Quebec. Southward it ranges to the mountains of
Pennsylvania, having been collected at several localities in
that State. It is also found in Michigan. In the West
it is replaced by the true P. acnleatum as well as by the
varieties Californicum and augiilare.

The genus Polystichum as now defined contains about
thirty species, pretty generally distributed throughout
the world. The name is derived from two G-eek words
signifying many rows. It is difficult to understand its
application here unless it refers to the rows of sporangia.

ti'.t-

Ml ;

CkUblEKS.

THE MARSH FERN TRIBE.

' As gracefully as ladyes fair

Bend o'er their mirror's sheen,
So o'er the turbid water's breast,
Thy plumes are waving green ;
As sweet and fair as ladyes bright,
Thy plumes gleam in the morning light.'

• I li ^

THE MARSH FERN TRIBE.

N Eastern America, two families of
ferns divide nearly half our species
between them. One of tl>esc is
^fT known as the genus Aspidium or
Dryoptcris, the other as AspUnium.
■r^^ As the genus Aspidium has been
2|f' understood in America, it has in-
^Z-^ eluded a diversity of forms, some of
1^ " which have but recently been re-
moved to the gonus Polystichum.
Those that remain fall very natur-
ally into two divisions as regards
form and habitat, and to Mie smaller
of these, of which the marsh fern may be taken as
the type, we have for convenience given the title of
the marsh fern tribe. The species have . strong family
resemblance — almost too strong, the young student may
be inclined to say when he comes to study them — but
a little study will soon fix the characters of each in the
mind, after which they may be distinguished at a glance.

The Marsh Fern,

Any one who has visited a bushy swamp in the north-
eastern States, where alders, button-bushes and cat-tails
flourish, has doubtless seen the marsh fern {Aspidium
Thelypteris). It is one of our commonest ?>pecies, and al-
though, as its name indicates, the marsh is its favourite

lis

THE MARSH FbKN TRIBE.

MARSH FERN.

A ipi.iiH m Iheht'l' > is.

dwelling; place, it is also found
in the wet woodlands, along
streams and in damp mea-
dows. It avoids actual w ater but
soft watery mud is its dclii-ht. In
open places it ^jrows as thickly as
grass, often to the exclusion of
other vcyetation, and seems to
court the sun if it can obtain a
supply of moisture.

Early in spring, before other
marsh plants have come up, the
slender crosiers of the marsh fern
begin to push above the black soil.
They are not flattened laterally as
are the crosiers of most ferns but
shaped like little green spheres,
These attractive looking objects
nodding at the tops of the long
stipes in the swampy wastes, are
so characteristic of the species
that one may frequently identify
the plant from the crosiers alone.
The slender, cord-like rootstock
creeps about freely just beneath the surface
and produces fronds throughout the sum-
mer. The early ones develop very quickly
and may
often be
seen with
the lower
pinn;e ful-

VENATION.

spread whilf the unprr are

still coiled.

THE NURSH ftm.
Along streams and in damp meadows.'

%«rfrv

THE MARSH FERN TRIBE.

119

SOKI.

Th- 5t fronds arc always sterile. They

are n, lanceolate, broad at base and

once pinnate, with the pinnae set at right

angles to the rachis. The latter are ob-

long-linear, pointed and cut nearly to the

midrib into many close, short, rather

rounded lobes. Bipinnate fronds with toothed or piimat-

ifid pinnules also occur.

It is not until about the middle of July or later that the
fertile fronds are produced. They arc like the sterile in
form, except that the pinnules are somewhat narrower
and appear as if pointed, owing to the margins being re-
flexed over the fruit when it is young. The sori are
borne in a double row on each pinnule and a'-c well on
the way toward maturity when the frond unfurls. The
indusium is kidney-shaped and soon withers. The spor-
angia then spread out and often completely cover the
under surface of the pinnule. Fronds midway between
fertile and sterile also occur. In these the pinnules are
flat and the less abundant sori are confined to the upper
part of the frond and the tips of the lower pinna:.

In deep shade, the marsh fern grows tall and slender
but fruits sparingly; in sun, the fruit is abundant but the
fronds lose much of their beauty, becoming thicker, yel-
lowish and with pinna strangely contorted. Both sorts
of fronds are borne on long stipes, in some cases twice
as long as the blades. The plant is commonly not fra-
grant, though specimens have been reported that emitted
an agreeable odour when drying. After the first sharp
frost the fronds in exposed places wither, but in sheltered
situations they remain green for a month or more longer.

This species is frequently known as the lady fern — in-
deed, its specific name signifies as much — but the real lady

I20

nil; swubii m;rn tkihb.

(liu bclt)ii;,;si() aiiotlicr family. In tliu Isle of Wight, ac-
cording; to Hiittiii, it is calkil ground fern, while aii-
t)tlRr Kn^lisli u ritcr alludes to it as the creeping water
fern. In some parts of America it is called the beaver
meadow fern probably from its abundance in the wet

open .savannas
known as beaver

PiMii'wii a>i ueaver
J meadows. T ii e
name of snulf-

rilH SNTKK HOX.

bo.\ fern will no
<loiil)t l>r tIiiMi;;ht particularly appropriate by all who
examine full}- matured fertile fronds. The pinnules
curl over the abundant s])orangia in such a way as to
appear \ery much like tiny half-open snuff boxes. Per-
haps (piill fern is also in allusion to the rcvolute pinnules.
The marsh fern is fouml from Canada to North Caro-
lina, the Indian territory and Kansas and occurs also in
Kurope anil Asia. It thrives well in the fern garden
but can scarcely be said to be a beautiful species and is
therefore little cultiv.ited except upon the borders of
small lakes and p(jnils.

T/)e New York Ferft.

Just as the marsh fern loves wet situations, the New
York fern {.Is/iiiiiiini XiKulhtrdicnsc) loves dry ones.
It is not meant that either is strictly confined to its
favourite doniain, but that their habitats seldom overlap
to an\- j^reat extent. In tlr\-, shaily woodlands, this is an
abundant — pf.ssihly the most abundant — species. It par-
ticularly loves the shade of oak, birch, maple and beech
but avoids direct s\inli;^lit ami seldom remains long after
the sheltering trees are removed.

NEW YORK FERN, AspiJium NiAuhoraceme.

THE MARSH FERN TRIBE.

121

The slender crosiers of this species
resemble those of the marsh fern, with
blades rolled into similar green balls,
but the stipes are much shorter. The
mature fronds arc very thin and deli-
cate, of a light yellow-green colour,
and are produced in tufts along a
slender creeping rootstock. In shape
they arc broadly lanceolate, pinnate,
and taper from about the middle to the
acuminate apex. Below, the pinnae
grow farther and farther apart, and
are gradually reduced in size until the
lowest are mere green cars. The pinna
are lanceolate, acute and pinnatifid,
with numerous, narrow, round-ended
pinnules.

The fronds are often finely hairy under-
neath and strewn with minute glands. When
the foliage is bruised these glands give out a
pleasing odour which has been called lemon-
like, by one writer and vanilla-like, by others.
The fact is, however, that it can hardly be
likened to the odour of any other substance.
It is the same ferny scent common to numer-
ous species but in this one sweet and strong.
One of its allies, Aspidium orcoptcris, is called
sweet-scented fern in England. It is described
as having the under surface sprinkU-d with
shining, yellowish, resinous globules, and even
the crosiers are fragrant. One of its admirers
writes of it, *' F"ew things in nature are more
beautiful than a great number of these plants

\~„. .V«^ ,,<"V ^,

NEW YORK FERN.

AsfiJiitm SoTtbor,\-
emit.

122

THE MARSH FERN TRIBE.

-s^^

FRUITING PlNNiB.

before they arc unfoUlcd. The grass seems strewn with
silver balls ami as you reluctantly tread on them and
brush by them, the scent is delicious."

I'rof. Peck has described a variety fragrans of the
New Vork fern wliich is principally distinguished by
the oiiour, and later, Katon made a variety suavcoUns of
which he says, " l-'ronds narrower, slightly more rigid,
very sweet scented in drying, the under surface copiously
si)rinkled with minute glands." This is apparently only
a form which, exposed to the sun, has made some slight
changes to adapt itself to the new conditions, as other
ferns are known to do.

The fertile fronds arc produced a little later than the
sterile and scarcely differ from them except that heavily
fruiting fronds are slii;htly taller and narrower. As in
all of the As/>i(iiiiiiis, the sori are round and covered with
a kidney-shaped iiulusium. In this species the indusium
is dotted with little glands and the sori are rather small
ami borne in a double row on each pinnule near the

margin.

Young collectors frequently mistake this for the marsh
fern, and indeed the early botanists were themselves in
sonic doubt about it. Several gave it the specific name of
l/ithftcroiiiis because of its resemblance to Thclyptcris,&nd
others called it X\\c VAx\c\.y No'nboracctise o{ the latter.
The two, however, are very distinct. If it is remembered
that in Xortlioraniisc the pinn.x are always much
decreased tow.ird the base of the frond, it will not be

THE MARSH FERN TRIBE.

laj

VENATION.

the other members of its genus in

easy to confuse it
with its ally. In
fact, the single char-
acterisitic of the re-
duced basal pinna:'
serves to distinguish
this species from all
eastern America.

The New York fern is found from Newfoundland
to North Carolina, Arkansas and Minnesota. It seldom
reaches a greater height than two feet and is one of our
most delicate woodland species. In the vicinity of New
York City it is very abundant and it grows luxuri-
antly on the wooded crests of the Palisades in Now
Jersey. It is reported to occur also in the mountains of
Southern Asia. In California there is a species {As/>i-
dimn yct'itdense) which very closely resembles the New
York fern, even to the reduced pinnules at the base of
the frond. It has, however, a stout rootstock and the
fronds are produced in circular crowns. Our species is
easily cultivated. In some books it is called bear's-paw,
a name without apparent meaning.

Aspidium Simulatum,

Counting from the time of christening, Aspidium siiitn-
latum is our youngest fern. It has been known to science
for barely half a dozen years. When its discovery was
announced and the features in which it differs from other
ferns pointed out, those who had trampled it under
foot for years, supposing it to be merely a form of
Noveboraci'Hse or T/wlyptcris, were quite astonished, and
the wonder grew when it was subsequently found to be

124

TUB MARSH FERN TRIBE.

"^J^)

f.iiily plentiful over a wide range
of territory. When one becomes
ac(iuaiiUed with its appearance it
is very easily distinguished from
its congeners, but its superficial
resemblance to the marsh and New
Vol k ferns is close enough to make
trouble for the novice.

When this species was first col-
lected, is perhaps not known. There
is a note in Eaton's " Ferns of North
America*" regarding a form of
Tlulyptcris " with most of the veins
simple and the lower pinna; a little
contracted " which is doubtless to be re-
ferred to this species, and Lawson seems
to have had the same thing in mind when
^u> he described in the Canadian Naturalist
his variety iiitertnedium of Aspidium
Tlulyptcris. Mr. Raynal Dodge, however, was
first to notice its specific differences. He
ori<jinally collected it about i88o near Sea-
brook, N. H., and after referring it for some
time from Tlulyptcris to Novchoracense and
back again without being satisfied of its
identity, came to the conclusion that it was
neither It was subsequently named siin-
ulatHtii by Mr. Geo. E. Davenport.

Aspidium simulatum is certainly a very dis-
tinct species, but in habit and habitat it is so
C, nearly like its allies as to suggest the thought
; that it may be a hybrid. It seems about
A.^idiun liLuuiHn'. midway between the two in everything, even as

THE MARSH FtRN TKIBi;.

laj

to the place in which it grows; for while Thelypieris loves
the sunny swamps and Noveboracensc, dryish shades, the
present species demands the moisture of the one and
the shade of the other and is to be found in deep wet
woodlands.

The rootstock, as might be inferred, creeps near the
surface of the soil and sends up bipinnatifid fronds which
are like those of Thelyptcris in general appearance but
like those of Noveboracensc in colour, texture and the
graceful curve of the blades. In technical language they
may be described as lanceolate, acuminate, pinnate with
numerous sessile, lanceolate, long-pointed, pinnatifid
pinnae and narrow obtuse segments.

In the vicinity of New York, the fertile fronds appear

FKIMTIXG PINNA.

in July. They are slightly taller and more erect than
the sterile and bear the medium-si/cd sori in a double
row on the pinnules. The indusia are thin and rather
more conspicuous than those of its nearest relatives.
Although the frond may be heavily fruited, the pinnules
appear never to become rcvolute as in Thclypteris.

When seen growing in masses this fern seems almost
identical with Noveboracensc but single fronds show a
very decided difference. While the lower pinna: may be
slightly smaller than those in the middle of the frond,
they are never so greatly reduced as in Noveboracensc.
The stipes are also much longer. The marks by which it
maybe distinguished from Thclypteris are the flat fertile

126

THt MAUSH ILKN TKIBt.

pinnules, lanceolate pinnju and simple veins. In Thf-
lyf>ltris the veins nDrni.illy fork once.

Aspiiinim simnialHin is at present known to jjrow in
most of the New Kngland States, New York, I'enn-
sylvania and .M.iryiand. Its partiality to spruce and
taniai.ick swamps is most pronounced. In the twolocali-
tics known for the ftin in New Voik State, it grows in
ilark ced.ir swamps in company with XWhuhcardia angui'
tijolia and an occasional marsh fern. It is a sin^jular fact
tli.it it thrives best in spots too shady for Thelypttris to
be fruitful, .iiui in moisture too great for Soviboracmse to
be common. It is the opinion of many botanists that
this spci ies is nearly as widely distributed as the ferns it
minucs Init is not reported because confused with the
others. There is a tciulency in some sections to call this
the Massachusetts shield fern. lUit since the fern is not
confmcil to that State, and is common in localities far re-
moved from New England, such n name is both unfortu-
nate and misleading. Many suppose that this species
w.is n.tmed simuhitum because of its resemblance to
SiK'iboracciisc and TJu/rftirii. While this thought may
// ^/n/T) \^!ivc occurred to its

■T/y^''^^ilWij}Jl^ls^S^kia. describer, he writes

uuD /ukHo nl^^^^^^^^^^^ *'''^* '* ^^^^ ^° named
\^\j\j\j\jA«> because it simulates

a narrow woodland
VENATION. form of the lady

fern (Athyriiim Filix-fa-miiia). Even the young col-
lector, however, ouj^ht to be able to distinguish it
from the l.itter. Our illustrations are from specimens
collecteil by the author near Habylon, Long Island.

The generic n.inu', .Ispiiliiiin is from the Greek and

THb MAKSli I bKN TKIBH.

ia7

means a little shield, in allusion tu the shape nf the in-
dusium. Many uf the common names given to members
of the genus uic also derived from this shape. Dryoptcris,
sometimes used instead of A:>pidium, is also from the
Greek and literally means oak-fern. There arc upwards
iM one hundred and fifty species distributed throughout
the world. It is probable that the generic name
Nephrodium will ultimately be used for these specie^ in
Amcr'ca. It is the name commonly usc«l abroad.

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.. What means this persistent vitahty ? NN y w^e ^ ^p.ru
when the brakes and osniundas were stricken down ? The> sta a
Tf to keep up the spirits of the cold-bU...ied frogs wh.ch have not >
11 into L t^ud'that the sun^n.er n.ay die wuh ^'ecent a.^.^u. e^
moderation Is not the water of the spring miproved by the.r pres
Tnce "They fall back and droop, here and there like the plumes of
departing summer, of the departing year. Even m them 1 feel an ar-
gument for immortality."— Thoreau.

THE WOOD FERNS.

OUBTLESS the majority of our ferns
' grow in forests, or at least in shady
•places, and so might without im-
propriety be called wood ferns, but
"5. .-- the members of the genus Aspidiuvt

are so noticeably abundant in all forested areas that the
name seems by right to belong to them. In the matter
of names, however, this genus has been rather unfair y
treated so far as a permanent name is concerned. As to
the number of its names, nothing can be complamed
of. In the vernacular, the species are known as shield-
ferns, wood-ferns, boss-ferns and buckler-ferns and the
scientists are divided as to whether the genus shall
be klwn as Aspiduan, DryopUris. ^^P'^^'^ZZ.
Lastrea. In the Old World, the spec.es are oftencst
failed Lastrea or Nepkroduan; in Amer^an books they
will usually be found in the genus Asptdtum. It is but
Te ently that the proposal to substitute the name
Dryoplris has been made. This latter may perhaps
be the oldest name, and therefore, accordmg to the
much cited rule of priority, the proper one for the
genus, but it has thus far failed of acceptance by most

botanists. , , j„.o

Whatever confusion exists in regard to the names does
not extend to the plants themselves. They may at once
be distinguished from other ferns by beanng the.r sporan-
gia in roundish sori covered with a kidney-shaped mdu-
sium that is attached to the frond by the s.nus.

«34

THR WOOD FERNS.

'The Marginal Shield Fern,

MAKdlNAI. SlIlKI-O FERN. AsJ-hlium iiiarghKilf.

In rocky wood-
lands, especially in
hilly country, the
marginal shield fern
{A spidiu III ma r<^iiiah)
is a common and well-
known species. It de-
lights to nestle
among the buttressed
roots of large trees or
in crevices between
the rocks where a
light soil has accum-
ulated, putting up
its graceful circles of
fronds wherever it
can obtain a foot-
hold.

This species has the heaviest rootstock of any of the
wood ferns. It is rather short, although occasionally ris-
ing a few inches above the earth and is densely clothed
at the crown with long chaffy brown scales. The half
dozen or more fronds are produced early in spring. They
are thick, almost leathery in texture and of a peculiar
dark, blue-green colour, lighter beneath. They are two
or three feet long with lanceolate twice pinnate blades,
at least below. The pinna; are lanceolate, broadest at
base, with numerous narrow, slightly falcate pinnules
which, especially in the lower part of large fronds-, may
1)0 again lobed or pinnatifid. The stipes are rather short
and (Kiiscly chaffy.

'LATE IV THE MARGINAL SHIELD FERN. .•/../;„/»/« m.n-inaL

(^(•THiCjMT. lyot.

PHINTED \H AMERICA

tOKeS toMPAS'

THB WOOD FtWNS.

The sporangia are
borne on fronds simi- "|
lar to the sterile ones
and aiJDcar almost

a" soon as the fronds unroll in sprin-,. The consp.cuous
^ndusia are convex, white or lead colour when youn,.
and owing to their thickness, do not w.ther so soon as

FRUITING PINNiK.

the indusia of most ferns. The sori are found on the
margins of the pinnules and so close to the ed,e as to
Xn appear to project beyond it. There is no cvowd-
i„l of ^l^ sori. Each is separated from its ne^hb.n
'"^ by an appreciable interval and if

one happens to be missin.^'. its
place is not encroached upon by
the others. This manner of fruit-
Ing is so characteristic that it
alone serves to distinguish this

species.

It is to be regretted that

the strictly Americai^ ferns have
so little folk-lore connected with them. Our cou.itry
was apparently settled at too late a P-'-^ ^ -^^
Tental development for the ferns to be -- -d 't^ -
Tame degree of wonder and speculation that Old W o 1 d
spTciesfnspired in earlier generations. Most of our folk-
W ha been imported and such of our spec.es as do
no occur rthe other side of the world usually have no

SORI.

^^ THt VVOUU It HNS.

.,„,.,i,y -bid. U slurcs »Uh .ho male ..r„. ^^^.^.^^

.::;:" ■c:rA;;:L:^:iA;:.a::a,; ..« .... a.u.

°:.,c.ain„. .. may be "^aed bo.eve. «« .end re,

rr.^r;:- •: r,™;.:'. mit ";;- • ^bc ,pecie,

is r excluen. one .or cultivation in sbady s.tuat.ons
about dwellings.

The Male Fern,

The male fern {Aspidium fiUx-mas) is a^'^^ly ^i*^
* v ...,1 .oecies It is plentiful in many parts of Europe
l:;a Asia an "; found 'in Greenland and the mountains
: South America. In North America Us range

mostly beyond the limits of the United States. It is
mostly Dcyuii ^ Michi-

not uncommon m Canada ^"^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ed to

gan. In the mountams of the West, it is repo
evtend as far south as Arizona.

n tne^l appearance this is so much like the margi-
na sh "id fern that one description would almost
; or boti;-. in fact, short-sighted botanists have
called them but two forms of the same spec.es. They
a to^er. nor likely to be so classed by any one
ZL as seen them growing. The frond in this species is
:radest above the middle and at base is usua y apprec.
ably narrowed. The pinnules are conspicuously toothed

THE HOME OF THE WOOD FERNS.

THE WOOD FERNS.

t$7

toward the apices and the rather large

sori are borne near the mid-vein instead

of on the margin. The fronds are

somewhat thinner than those of the

marginal shield fern, have not the

peculiar blue-green colour and are not

evergreen. From the way in which

its fronds stand in close circles, it is

sometimes called the basket fern.

Among its other names are knotty ^^^^___^

brake fern, sweet brake and vermifuge, ^^^^^

the latter referring to its anthelmintic '^J^^^^JS^l^

properties.

The stem and roots are bitter and
astringent and have been used in lieu
of hops in brewing. Its ashes have
also been used in glass making. The
curious " St. John's hands " once sold
to the credulous as charms against
magic and witchcraft were made from
the rootstock and unexpanded fronds
of this species. The rootstock yields
the Filix-mas of the pharmacist.

Goldies Shield Fern.

In an order of plants so varied in form ^^
and texture as the ferns, there may th».^male fer^.

easily be several standards of beauty.
Some, indeed, can scarcely be called beautiful except
when seen in masses, others only when taken singly, while
still others owe much of their attractive appearance to
the setting of mossy rock or shaded brook and lose

138

THE WOOD FERNS.

greatly when removed from their natural surroundings.
Tried by any of these standards, Goldie's fern {Aspidium
Goldieanum) will scarcely be found wanting. It is a
magnificent species, the tallest of the wood ferns, and
almost equalling the Osmundas in size.

The fronds are ovate or lanceolate in outline, often
four feet high and more than a foot wide and grow
from a creeping horizontal rootstock as thick ai one's
thumb. The stipes of the young crosiers are covered
with large pale-brown scales that near the base shade
into a deeper tint. The fronds art nearly twice pinnate,
the stalked lanceolate acuminate pinnai being cut nearly
to the midrib into long, obtuse, slightly serrate, falcate
pinnules. The texture is thin but firm and the colour a
peculiar deep blue-green shade, lighter beneath. In
colour and cutting of the fronds, this is much like the mar-
ginal shield fern, and small forms may sometimes be con-
fused with it, but the pinnae are not so deeply lobed
and the sori are never on the margin as in that species.
The fertile fronds are like the sterile and are well fruited
by the middle of June. The sori are rather large and
borne in a row on each side of the mid-vein and near to it.

Goldie's fern is found from Canada to North Carolina,
Tennessee and Minnesota. It delights in deep moist
woodlands at medium elevations where there is not much

IMNXA.

THt WOOD FERNS.

«39

undergrowth. It is not generally distributed in its range,
is often rare or missing over larye stretches of coun-
try, and is seldom as plentiful as viarginak. It is easily
cultivated and its stately fronds form a valuable addition
to the fern garden.

A form of this fern, from the Dismal Swamp has been
described as the variety cclsum. It differs from the type
in being narrower, more erect and with pinnules and
pinnae further apart.

The Crested Fern,

When one's rambles happen to take him through a
piece of wooded swamp full of hellebore and skunk's
cabbage, where early in the season the marsh marigold
and spring beauty cover the earth with bloom and later
in the year the Canada lily hangs out its orange-yellow
bells, he is likely to come upon the crested fern {Aspidium
cristahim) with its tall narrow fertile fronds quite erect in
the dim light, as if disdaining the mud in which it is
rooted. But this is in summer. If one passes that way
again in winter, no fertile fronds are to be seen, but the
sterile still remain, fresh and green, though prostrate on
the frozen ground and scarcely recognised as belonging
to the same plant.

Few species make a more striking distinction between
sterile and fertile fronds. It seems to have the nature of
two plants in one. The fertile fronds are tall, erect, and
found only in summer ; the sterile are shorter, spreading
and conspicuous only in the winter. In both, the outline
is narrowly oblanceolate and acute, and both are pinnate.
The pinnjc are broadest at the base, the lowest pairs al-
most triangular and the upper tapering outward to the
tips. All are deeply cut into close, broad, obtuse pin-

I40

THE WOOD FERNS.

nules which are cicnulate or finely serrate. Occasionally
the pinnules nearest the rachis are separate. Fertile
fronds sometimes reach a height of three feet and a width
of six Indies, but these dimensions are rare. The sori
are borne in a double row on each pinnule and the in-
dusium is broad, thin and conspicuous. A fruiting pin-
mile is illustrated in the Key to the Genera. The
>o<.t^tock is of medium size, horizontal and creeping.

A sfiJium cristntum. Middle pinna.

The crosiers are covered with broad, light-brown scales,
moiiy of which remain on the stipes after the blade has
unfurled.

This species is very sensitive to varying amounts of
hsht and the pinnne, especially those of the fertile frond
have the trick of assuming a nearly horizontal position
like slats in a blind, to accommodate themselves to the
illumination. In fronds that do not naturally receive
sufficient light, the individual pinnre will twist around
until at the prober angle. Even when a frond is fastened
with the upper side down, they will manage to turn so
as to face the light.

The crested fern is found from northern Canada to
North Carolina, Arkansas and Idaho and occurs again in
Europe and Asia. Its favourite haunt is the woodland

'r^^

CRESTED FERN. Aspidium cristatum.

THE WOOD FERNS.

141

swamp, though it may be found aloni; streams, m mo.st
thickets and occasionally in the open ground.

A form principally distinguished by us much larger
and broader fronds is known as the variety Cluaomanum
It is found in rich wet woods in America but has not
been reported from the Old World. It may sometimes
be mistaken for Goldicanum but is easily distinguished
bv its broad triangular lower pinna;.

Mr. Davenport has recently described a curious plant
with characteristics intermediate between this spec.es and
ItarHnaU which he calls A. cnstatum X utargwale. He
cSTrs it a hybrid and describes it as having the upper
pa" of tU frond like ;«.r,W. and the lower third like
llfstlon, with veining and texture like the latter. The
rootstock is erect and the frond is very P-ne to ..n; and
to nroduce abortive and misshapen fronds. The son are
borne near the margin of the pinnules and the indusiunj
•s onvex ast „J,i„alc. Thus far it has been found
in various places if all the New England States and
in New Jersey.

A,pidiu^ crUtatum Clintonianum. Middle pinna.

Aspidium Boottii,

In appearance Aspidium Boottii stands half way be-
tween the crested and the spinulose sn.eld ferns ad 1
sometimes thought to be a hybrid between them. It has

143

THE WOOD FERNS.

i !

V»^

also been described at different times
as a variety u( buth species. Present
day students, huwever, unite in con-
sidering it distinct. Nevertheless it is
a form to puzzle the novice, since it is
so easily confused with other species
that it often requires careful study to
separate them. In the cutting of the
fronds it is most like sfinulosuin ; \\
(^vf " shape it approaches cristatum.

This species attains a height of from
two to three feet. The fronds are half
erect and oblong-lanceolate in outline.
The blade is about twice pinnate. In
the lower part, the pinnai are triangular-
ovate and again pinnate with oblong,
bluntish divisions, the largest of which
are cut into blunt segments with bristle-
like teeth at the apex. In the upper,
the pinn.TE are lanceolate, broadest at
base with broad, bhint-toothed seg-
The frond is always twice pinnate be-
low, a point that makes its separation from the
'rested fern easy. It is, however, somewhat
variable in its cutting and some forms are likely
to be often referred to spinulosum.

The fertile fronds are much like the sterile
in shape though usually slightly taller and more
deeply cut. The sori are rather smaller than
those of cristatum and borne in a similar double
row on the pinnules. Nearly all specimens
have a tendency to produce one or more sori
on the teeth of the pinnules as well, thus obscur-

ments.

As/iiiiium luK'llii.

Aspidium cristatum ClintonLinHm.

As^/i/imm fitwtlii. l.ownl pinna.

THt WOOD FERNS. M3

ing the regular-
ity of the rows.
The iiidusia are
minutely glandu-
lar. According
to some authors
a third set of
fronds internR-di-
ate in size be-
tween fertile and
sterile and which
may or may not
bear sporang.a is produced in late summer. J'"* /^^tf"
ment would seem to need confirmation. The fronds
show their kinship to cris/atnm by the fact that the fer-
tile wither : ..utumn. while the sterile rema.n green

throuch the V .ter. ,,• • •

This species is found from Nova Scot.a to \ .rgm.a
and Minnesota and is also reported from Alaska It is
most abundant in wet shady places and is especial y fond
of swampy alder thickets. It appears to be fa.r y com-
mon, although In comparison with other wood ferns, it
is rare in collections.

ne Spinuiose Shield Fern.

Thespinulose shield {cuy{Aspidium spviulosum)^t^A\ts
varieties are among our commonest species but their
abundance in no wise detracts from their beauty. They
are most plentiful in deep moist woods where they flour-
ish in the shelter of rocks and large trees or arch along
the mossy banks of streams.

The species may be distinguished from its relatives
and from nearly all our other ferns by its finely divided

•44

THE WOOD FERNS.

foliage. The blade is nearly three
times pinnate, the ultimate pin-
nules being small, oblong, blunt
at the ends and s p i n u 1 o s e
toothed. The cutting, however,
varies greatly. The secondary
divisions are not always com-
pletely pinnate but they are al-
~~ways so near it as to give a very
delicate, lace-like effect to the
frond. The pinnules on the in-
ferior side of tlie pinna; are fre-
'-., quently elongated especially in

the lowest pair, a characteristic very com-
mon in this family. The sori are borne
on the backs of ordinary fronds in what
approximates a double row on each of
the secondary divisions, a sorus being
located at the base of each pinnule. It
not infrequently happens, however, that
the pinnules themselves bear one or more
sori which breaks up the regularity of
the rows and makes the arrangement of
the fruit dots loss definite than it is in
other species. The indusium is kidney-
shaped and smooth. The sporangia early
turn to a shining black and do not be-
come brown until late in the season.
The fronds are produced from a short
stout rootstock and all appear in early
spring.
The two varieties of this species are so much like it in
appearance that good students cannot always agree as to

SPINULOSE
SHIELD FKRN.

Aspidium spinuloiuvt
intermedium.

CRESTED FERN, A<pi,1ium iristatiiin.
Sterile iMonil.

THE WOOD FERNS.

•45

the disposition of certain specimens. Generally speak-
ing it may be said that the variety intermedium is
rather longer, narrower and more finely cut than the
type with the under surface minutely glandular. The
young fronds are frequently so sticky from tht -• glands
that they adhere
to the paper when
pressed for the her-
barium. It is our
commonest form
and is abundant in
nearly all moist
woods. The vari-
ety dilatation is an
upland or moun

A PINNULE. Much enlarged.

tTin'formTat' least in the southern part of its range. It
is more inclined to be ovate and the inferior pmnules
on the lowest pair of pinna: are conspicuously elongated
The principal points that are depended upon for separat-
ing the forms may be contrasted as follows:-

In true spinulosum the scales of the stipe are pale brown,
the blade ovate-lanceolate, the pinna: oblique to the
rachis and the indusium glabrous.

In the variety intermedium the scales of the stipe are
brown with a darker centre, the blades oblong-ovate,
often rather narrow, the pinn.x spreading, the indusium
racked edged and dotted with stalked glands.

In the variety dilatatum the scales of th. stipe are
larger, brown with a dark centre, the blade broadly
ovate, the lower pinnules much lengthened and the

indusium glabrous. „ . . .

It may be noted in passing that in Great Britain where
dilatatum is common, and frequently regarded as a d.s-

146

THE, WOOD FERNS.

tinct species, the indusium is described as glandular and
that according to Eaton, specimens of true spinulosum
with glandular indusia have been collected in America.
The young fern student will encounter no more perplex-
ing problems tlian the separation of these forms presents.
When possible he should compare his specimens with
others that are known to be authentic. All are ever-

As/iiiiiiiin spinulosum dilalalum. Lowest Pinna.

green though the blades do not remain erect during the
winter.

This group is found from Canada to North Carolina
and northwestward to Alaska. The type is rather rare
with us, but is more common in Europe and Asia. Inter-
medium does not seem to be found abroad. Dilatatum
is the common form in Alaska. It is said that its root-
stock is the first vegetable food the Alaska Indians are able
to obtain in spring. It is dug before the fronds develop
and baked in pits lined with hot stones. It is reported
to have a slightly sweetish taste but to be too smoky and
tobacco-like in flavour for any but an Indian's palate.

THE WOOD FERNS.

'47

The Fragrant Fern.

The fragrant fern {Aspidium fragrans) cannot be
mistaken for any of its relatives, but there are many
collectors who would gladly mistake it for anything, if
by so doing, they might add it to their collections. It

is a rare and hardy little
species, growing in clefts in
the face of precipices in the
northern parts of our country
and yields only to the en-
during and persistent fern hunter.
The f ro n d s are usually not
more than eight inches long and
grow in circular tufts. They are
narrowly lanceolate and twice
pinnate, the oblong pinnules being
deeply toothed. The short stipes
that bear them are covered more
^ or less thickly with chaffy brown

scales. Both sides of the frond are glandu-
lar, the under surface most so. The sori
are borne on the narrow pinnules and are
covered with unusually large membrana-
ceous indusia. These often entirely conceal
the whole under surface of the frond.

A collector who has had
the pleasure of finding this
fern in a new station, thus
writes of it in the Fern Bul-
letin. "There could be no
possible quest:, a of its identity, this time. It was way
up on the bare dry face of the cliff, far out of reach ex.

FRAGRANT FERN.
A spidium fragra ns.

148

THE WOOD FERNS.

A Fruiting Pinna.

cept by some sort of a ladder. But it was so unlike
any other species with its dry, curling, snuff-coloured
fronds of last year, that I knew it was the one I wanted.
... Its chief characteristics are, first, that peculiar ap-
pearance of the old fronds : you couldn't curl them

more gracefully than they
appear drooping over the
edge of the rocks; second,
the glutinous fronds — grass
and leaves adhere to them ;
third, its pecul'ur fragrance.
Gray says aromatic ; that doesn't half tell the story. I
gathered a clump of it on the cliff and dropped it down
in my pocket handkerchief and the perfume lasted for
days. I think it is like new mown hay composed largely
of sweetbriar rose leaves. It grows on the dryish cliff
sides where anything else would be scorched by the
sun's heat. Look for a place where there is a bare cliff,
overhanging, a little, perhaps, so that the rain cannot
reach it and up above all the trees so that it can have
no shade at all, and if you find a fern there, test it by its
fragrance, its stickiness and its beautiful brown curls."
The fragrance has also been likened to that of primroses,
strawberries and raspberries and the plant is known
sometimes as the sweet polypody.

The greater part of the fragrant fern's range is north
of the United States. It has been found in a few ele-
vated stations in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
New York, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Northward it
extends to Alaska and Greenland and is reported to be
the commonest species in some districts. It is found
also in Northern Europe and Asia and is there occasion-
ally used as a tea, being valued as an anti-scorbutic. Al-

FRAGRANT FERN. Aspidiuni .fnii^tum

THE WOOD FERNS. 149

though subjected to great cold for a large part of the
year, its fronds are evergreen. The illustrations are
from Vermont specimens.

The derivation of the names Asp idium and Dryopteris
will be found in the chapter devoted to the marsh fern
tribe. The name Lastrea by which this genus is com-
monly known in Great Britain was given in honour of De
Lastre a French botanist. As the wood ferns are now
grouped there are several well-marked tribes and it is
likely that each will ultimately be recognised as a sep-
arate genus. In this case certain exotic species with
anastomosing veins and circular, peltate indusia will be
entitled to the name of Aspidium, the free-veined species
(which include our wood ferns) to that of Nephrodium
and those in which the veins connect at the tips to
Lastrea: though this latter name is really synonymous
with Nephrodium. The word Nephrodium is from the
Greek and is in allusion to the reniform indusia.

..Th.r^ be cmoiricks or blind practitioners i.f this «i{0 who teach

ZLnns of spleenwort by night and other most v.une th-nS^ ^^'^^
a found scattered here and there in old books, from -^-^^^^l
the later writers do not abstaine who many times fill "P "^"^'^ P^^"
with Iks Ind frivolous stories and by so doing do not a httle dece.ve
young students."— Oeraru.

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

IHE spleenwort family is one of
the dominant fern families of
the world, and is represented
in eastern America by more
species than any other. A
strong family resemblance runs
through them all, though they
present few of the problems in
identity so common in other
ferns. The young collector
will vote them very satisfactory
to study. As a group they may be recognised by their
bearing sporangia in linear sori that are covered w.th
indlaf^xed b^ their inferior sides and opemng tow-^^
the midrib. In size and habitat the spec.es all into two
afrly natural groups, the small ones being all rock-lovmg
pTanL and the la^ge ones preferring to grow .n nch
earth! The rock spleenworts will be treated of m th.s
chapter.

The Maidenhair Spleenwort,

The dainty little maidenhair spleenwort {Asplcnium
r.T^:,«../although not the smallest of^- *.«.
i, ,h, smallest of our common ferns. After ttie poiy
pody. tTs probably the most abundant of all the s.r.ctly

dryish, shady cliffs where it roots ,n the smallest crevices

"56

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

and spreads its fronds in green rosettes with very decor-
ative effect. The stipe and rachis are a shining dark brown
and the tiny, roundish, or slightly elongated pinna;, with
entire or toothed margins, are scattered along the latter
on very short stalks. Sometimes they are slightly dilated
on the upper side at base. The whole frond is seldom
more than eight inches long and half an inch wide. The
number to each plant depends upon its strength and
vigour. From ten to twenty is near the normal number,
though plants with more than fifty living fronds have been
collected. The sporangia are borne in linear sori on the
backs of ordinary fronds, several on each pinnule and ob-
lique to the mid-vein. This species has also been known
to produce a few sori on the upper surface of the pinnules.

Although so small and delicate, the fronds last through
the winter and spring. Then, instead of tiie entire frond
dying, only the pinnules fall, leaving the polished daik
rachids standing in a circle about the new growth. One
seldom finds a plant without these relics of other days
which often greatly outnun ber the living fronds. It is
said that only the early sterile fronds last through the
winter, but this needs verification.

A few years ago, it was discovered that under certain
conditions the fronds are capable of movement. The
phenomenon is placed on record in the Botanical Gazette.
The observer found that by quickly bringing a pot con-
taining the growing plant from the ordinarily shaded
position into sunlight, or even bright daylight, the fronds
made rapid motions back and forth in a direction at
right angles to the plane of the frond and " more rapid
than the second hand of a watch, but with occasional
stops in the course of each half vibration." Only the
fruiting fronds have been found to move thus and these

THE ROCK SPLEENWOF^TS.

■57

for only a few minutes after being brought into the hght.
The inotions are most vigorous in the middle of the day.

Among the many common names for our ^

plant are wall spleenwort, dwar' spleenwort,
black-stemmed spleenwort, English maiden-
hair, waterwort fern and baby fern. All are
derived from the size or appearance of the
plant or from the locations it effects. Its
fronds are said to be somewhat mucilaginous
and astringent and were formerly often substi-
tuted for those of the true maidenhair {Adtan-
tinv Capilhis-Vcneris) in compoundirj the
famous " Syrup of CapiUare." The drymg
fronds have a sweetish odour which often re-
mains in the herbarium specimens.

The maidenhair spleenwort is one of the
most cosmopolitan of ferns. It is found
throughout almost all of North America and Qp
is as common on the other side of the globe.
A British writer says, " The walls of loose
stones piled on each other which skirt the road
in North Wales are often green for miles with
tufts of this fern." It is often supposed that
our plant grows only upon calcareous rock but
this is certainly a mistake. It is seldom miss- p^„„j ^^
ing entirely from any shaded ledge, and is mmoenhajr
likely to be among the young collector s hrst
specimens from such places. It takes kindly to the arti-
ficial rockery and if planted in the chinks of a rough
stone wall will soon cover the gray rocks with its delicate

fronds. ,

The variety incisum with leaflets deeply cut has been
reported from various parts of our range. The inci.sed

1 58

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

form from California is now regarded as a dis*
species.

The Green Spleenwort,

The green sj)leenwort {Aspleniuin viride), a rare and

delicate little inhabitant
of rocky ledges in the
North, is at first glance
extremely like the maid-
enhair spleenwort and was
once considered
to be a variety
of it. But while
the resemblance
is strong, the
differences i n
structure are
stronger and
there can be no
doubt o f its
being distinct.

The texture
of the frond is
m u c h thinner
than in A. Trichomanes and the stipe and rachis
are less wiry. The latter is also clear green in-
stead of polished brown. These characteristics
alone serve to distinguish this from the com-
moner species. The fronds are short, pinnate
with short-stalked, ovate, round-lobed pinnules
and seldom reach a length of six incl:es.
They grow in little tufts from a diminutive rootstock
and form dense mats in suitable situations. The sori are

GREKN SIM.KKNWORT.

Ai/'/tHiiiin ririiir.

Frond of
GREEN
SPLEEN-
WORT.

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

'59

borne on the backs of ordinary fronds, several on each
pinnule and slightly nearer to the middle than the
marein. The indusium, of course, is linear.

In the eastern United States, the green spleenwort is
found only in Vermont. Further north it is slightly
.nore abundant and is generally distributed throughout
British America, reappearing in our Western btatc in
the mountains of Oregon, Wyoming a .d Washington
It is also found in Greenland and in the colder parts of
the old world. Over seas this species grows with the
maindenhair spleenwort and in our own c«""7 ^^j"'^
much the same habitats. It is occasionally called green
maidenhair. We illustrate a Vermont specimen.

The Small Spleenwort,

The small spleenwort {Aspknium parvulum) is a south-
ern species which careless collectors might gather for
the maidenhair spleenwort or perhaps the ebony spleen-
wort It grows in tufts on shaded, or sometimes on
sunny clifis, the fronds spreading from a short half-erect
rootstock. The stipe and rachis are very dark brown
and polished but are much more rigid than in the maid-
enhair spleenwort. The fronds are also thicker, almost
leathery in texture and much broader.

In shape the fronds are linear-lanceolate and once pin-
nate with many pairs of opposite, oblong, blunt pinnules
that are usually slightly eared on the upper side at base.
In the larger fronds, which may occasionally reach a
length of ten inches, there is a tendency to produce an ear
on the inferior bases of the pinnules also. This is espe-
cially noticeable in the shortened lower pinnules which
thus often become triangular. The sori are borne on

l6o

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

the backs of the ordinary fronds in a single row near the
edge of each pinnule, the individual sori oblique to the
rachis.

In size, shape and habitat, this species seems to stand
halfway between the maidenhair and ebony spleenworts.
It was once considered a variety of the latter and is
sometimes called the little ebony spleenwort. The points
by which it may be distinguished from the maidenhair
spleenwort have been mentioned. It may be well, also, to
contrast it with the ebony spleenwort. For all their re-
semblances, it will be found upon comparing the two that
they have very little in common.

In parvuluin the fronds are small, thick, stifT, with en-
tire, deflexed pinn;e. Fertile and sterile fronds are of the
same size.

In ehcneutn the fronds are larger, thin, flexible, with
serrate horizontal pinnie and the fertile fronds are much
the taller.

Asplcnium parvuluin is found from Virginia and Kan-
sas soutii and southwestward to the tropics. In the
mountains of Jamaica it frequently grows on wayside
banks and old stone walls, often in full sun.

The Ebony Spleenwort,

The ebony spleenwort {Asplcnium ebeneum) loves the
rock as much as any of its kin, but only rarely is it
found on the shelving sides of cliffs. I have found it
thus along the Palisades of the Hudson, but it had evi-
dently strayed down from its home at the top. It espe-
cially delights in thin stony soil and comes to its best in
half wooded lands in a tangle of small bushes, brambles
and clumps of the New York and boulder ferns. It also

■-'.•i.'. •■•.'■ ./ .7.-. •#"

-. K

SMALL SPLEENWORT. AspleHtum parvuluin.

fMH

|l' I .

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

manages to exist upon many shaly hillsides
where the (ailing fragments are constantly
crowding its fronds.

The fronds are borne on very short
stioes in tufts from a small rootstock.
There is a noticeable difference between fer.
tile and sterile blades. The latter arc seldom
more than six inches long and an inch wide
and spread close to the earth.
They are once pinnate with close
set, short, blunt and obscurely
serrate pinnules eared on the su-
perior side at base. The fertile
are three or four times longer,
stiffly erect, in marked contrast
to the others. The pinnules are
also much longer, often an inch
or more in length, usually con-
spicuously serrate ^nd inclined to
be eared on both sides at base.
They are about linear-oblanceo-
late, tapering acutely below and with pin-
nules much farther apart than in the sterile
frond. The rachis in
both kinds of fronds is
dark shining brown. The
sori are borne in a double
row on each pinnule at
some distance from the
margins. When young the white indusium
is conspicuous, but it soon withers and the
sori, becoming confluent, cover most of the
under surface of the frond. The fertile

i6i

EBONY

SPLEENWORT.

Fertile frond.

l63

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

fronds do not survive the winter, but the sterile are ever
green. In this, as well as in the way the plant carries its
two sorts of fronds, it stron-ly suggests the crested fern.
I'art of a fruiting frond is shown in the Key.

The ebony fern derives its name from the dark rachids
It IS sa.d that the word ebony is from the Hebrew eben
incanmg a stone. In its application to this species, it is
l)articularly appropriate, since it may be taken to refer
to the colour of the rachis. or to the .em's habit of grow-
ing among the rocks. It is also called screw fern because
the alternate fertile pinna- are set upon the rachis in
such a manner that they resemble the threads on a
screw. While the plant is growing, the resemblance at
a short distance is very striking.

This species is found from Maine and southern Can-
ada to the Tropics and westward to Colorado. It is not
abundant except in rocky soil. It grows well in cultiva-
tion and is said to occasionally root at the apex.

The pinnules incline to vary in the depth of the serra-
tures. Deeply incised forms have been described as the
varieties iucisuin and serratuvt. Fronds with pinnatifid
pinns and serrate pinnules have also been reported.
This species, like the maidenhair spleenwort. is some
times sweet-scented in drying. The odour seems to come
from the roots or rootstock and often remains for some
time in the dried plants. Until recently our fern has
been called by the specific name of ebeneum. There is a
much older name and if we should go back to this, our
plant would be known as AspUniiim platyneuron.

The IFall Rue,

The wall rue {Asplenium ruta-mtirarid) is usually
found in limestone regions. It loves the sheltered

ts
n.

!s.
'n
is
;r
i'-

n
a
it

EBONY SPLttNWORT. Asplcnium d'cncum.

THb R(3CK SPLHHN WORTS.

nooks on dry cliffs aiul often yro'. luxuriantly
in the smallest crevices. In comparison with
many of its allies it may be called common and
next to A. Truliomanes is the spleenwort oftencst
found on cliffs.

The fronds grow in tufts from a short rootstalk
and are seldom more than five inches long, while
fruiting specimens only an inch high arc not rare.
In shape, they vary from ovate to oblong-ovate
and are twice pinnate with stalked pinnit and
pinnules. The pinn;e are shaped like the
frond, and the pinnules arc ovate, obovate
or fan shaped with the outer margin slightly
toothed. Occasionally the pinnules are
lobed or again pinnate. In texture the
fronds are thick and leathery and they en-
dure the winter without injury. Several sori
are borne on each pinnule and nearly every
frond is fertile. The indusium soon withers
and the sori becom confluent over nearly all
the under surface.

Small as this species is, it does not lack for
common names. Among them, wall rue and
stone fern are in allusion to its place of growth,
and white maidenhair from its being confused
with the maidenhair spleenwort. Its old name
of tent-wort was originally taint-wort and was
given because the plant was supposed to be a
specific for a scrofulous disease called " the taint."
The fronds were once considered good for coughs
and for diseases of the liver and spleen, but their
use for such things has now been abandoned.
The rue spleenwort is found from Vermont,

THE WALr RI'R.
As//rHium ruta-muraria. Three form* of frondi.

'64

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

:'l

r I li

p. lil

southern Ontario and Michigan to Alabama and Mis-
souri, always on rocks. It is also widely distributed in
the Old World. Newman in his " British Ferns " says
that throughout the northern, southern and western
counties of England and also in Wales, Scotland and
Ireland, this fern is to be found upon almost every ruin.
It is never so common with us and the collector who dis-
covers it in a new place is fortunate. Mrs. Parsons, in
" How to Know the Ferns," mentions a clump of this fern
no larger than the palm of one's hand, in which forty-five
fresh fronds were counted. The plant is not very easily
cultivated.

T6e Mountain Spkenwort,

The mountain spleenwort {Asplaiiiim viontannm)

greatly resembles the wall rue in
everything except numbers, but
the latter characteristic will pre-
vent its often being mistaken for
that species. It was first dis-
covered in the Carol in as by
Michaux who supposed it to be
an Old World species, Asplcnunn
Adianttim-nigrum. The points by
which it may most readily be dis-
tinguished from the wall rue, are
.,^. the less fan-shaped pinnules and

MOUNTAIN SPLEIJNWORT. , , ,

Aspieniumn. ntanum. the louger aud narrower fronds.
The rootstock is small and short-creeping, often produc-
ing short stubby lateral branches. The fronds are spread-
ing and when full grown are from two to six inches long.
They are about ovate-lanceolate, twice pinnate at the

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

•65

broad base and graduated upward to the pm - ful apex
The lower pinna, are stalked and elongated-tr.angu ar u
shape, with lanceolate and sharply toothed p.nnulcs. as
a e al o the pinnules near the tip of the frond. None o
them appear to be decidedly wedge-shaped. The short
oi are borne on most of the fronds and early become
Tonfluen. over the under surface as .n the waU -^
Orcasionallv the lower sori are double. Pionds ten
hKheirg are reported from Kentucky, and Williamson
is quoted as hav'.g collected a plant in that state hav-
ing more than fifty fronds.

The mountain splecnwort is found
sparingly from Connecticut and New
York to Georgia and Arkansas. It is
an inhabitant of the precipices in
mountainous regions and frequently
grows in inaccessible niches. Lantern
Hill in Connecticut, near the Rhode
Island State line is its limit, northeast-
ward so far as known. Writing of this
station for it, in the Fern Bulletin, Dr.
C. B. Graves says, " Asplenium inonta-
man is able to maintain itself on the
driest and most exposed cliffs provided
there are holes and crevices which af-
ford a holding place. In such sit-
uations it is much stunted and incon-
spicuous, the fronds sometimes fruiting
when less than half an inch in length.
It reaches its best development on moist, shaded, over-
hangin<^ ledges." This species usually chooses situations
similar'to those selected by the wall rue, and may be
looked for wherever the latter is found. No doubt there

Fertile frond of

MOUNTAIN

SPLEESWORT.

i66

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

are many stations for it in the eastern Slates that await
a discoverer.

Aspknium Bradleyi,

It was once sugjjested that Asplcniiim Bradleyi might
be a hybrid between tlie ebony and mountain spleen-
worts, but the idea seems more ingenious than phiusible
since a well developed specimen has as much individuality
about it as any other member of this group. Like the
others, it loves the rocks and is often able to thrive in full
sunshine but is at its best in shady places.

The fronds grow in tufts from a short and nearly erect
rootstock and often reach a length of ten inches. They
are rather narrow, slightly broadest at base and taper up-
ward. The pinnules nearest the apex are oblong or ovate
and serrate, those next below are deeply serrate while
those at the ba-^e are again pinnate with oblong, blunt,
sometimes toothed pinnules. The basal pinnie have

broad bases and blunt tips and
are slightly stalked. The stipe
and rachis are dark brown and
the sori are as in the other
Aspleniiims.

Tin's species ranges from
New York to Georgia and Miss-
ouri. It is supposed to keep
pretty close to the limestone,
but has been found on sand-
stone in Missouri and Ken-
tucky and on gneiss in Maryland. As yet it is not
known to be very abundant anywhere but will no doubt
be found in many more localities. There is much dififer-

FruiliriK pinna; of
Asplinium BraJleyi.

I -i

nv.

til
. 1 , ■

ill

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

ence between the extremes of variation in the
fronds. In appearance certain forms approach
very closely to forms of A. montanum. Mr. L.
E Waters, in the Fern Bulletin, gives this rule
for distinguishing them, " In montanum the
stipe is brown only at the base and the upper
part of the stipe and the entire rachis .s flat-
tened, with two parallel grooves in front, in
Bradleyi the entire stipe and lower part of tne
rachis is brown while in place of two grooves
we have a single distinct one with a slight
rid-e running down the centre." Our ulustra-
tion was made from plants collected m M.ss-

.67

ouri.

T:he Pinnatijid Spleenwort,

ttwt

It is always a red letter day in one s cal-
endar when he chances upon the crinkly, dark-
-reen, tapering fronds of the pinnatifid spleen-
wort {Asplcnium pinnatifidum) peepmg from a
cleft in some gray cliff. This species is one
which the collector ever has in mind when
searching the shady ledges, for it belongs to
that rare class of plants whose location cannot

be determined beforehand. One visits the

woods, the swamps and the ravines in perfect

confidence of being able to find certain species,

but the pinnatifid spleenwort is not one of

them Although it has a considerable range it

is common only in a few restricted areas To

most of us, it comes as a sort of gift ^^ ^^^e ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

gods, and makes memorable the day on whicU ^ j^^^^,^ j,„„j.

it was found.

168

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

The rootstock is short, nearly erect and iisu.tliy roots
in a crevice well out of ordinary reach. The fronds, some
six inches or less in len-,'th, are broadest at base and taper
outward to a long slender tip that often roots after the
manner of the wilking fen ; in fact tiie whole plant su-;-
gests the latter species and it is not surprising to leani
that it was once considered a variety of it. It is, however,
clearly distinguished by its free veins, and mostly single
indusia, not to mention its pinnatifid fronds.

The fronds are thick and evergreen. At some dis-
tance from the tip they begin to be round lobcd and these
lobes grow larger and the cutting deeper as the base is
approached, until the lowest often become separate pinns,
rather rounded triangular in outline. The stipes arc.
usually short, but vary in length with the location of each
plant, being always long enough to lift the blade clear of
the crevice in which it is rooted. There is consid-
erable variation in the fronds. Forms that are pinnate
nearly to the summit, with ovate pinnae, have been found. '
and others with long, sharp-pointed pinna: at the base of
the frond are known. The sori are borne both upon the
lobes and the tapering apex, many of them opening
toward the inferior edges.

The pinnatifid splcenwort is found from New York to
Illinois, y\rKnnsas and Georgia. Throughout most of its
range it is extremely rare though in some small sections it
is not uncommon. It has been found on limestone, gneiss
and sandstone and will probably yet be found on shale.
Within its range the collector is always warranted in
expecting it. thou-h he is probably destined to be very
frequently dis.ippointed.

PLATE V THE PINNATIFID SPLEENWORT. .(,,/A«///« r"»"'('J'^'"'''-

COP^niGHt -O. B.>REOtRlCK A ST0«t5 COMPANY
pu,S'ED I"* AMtH C*

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

i6q

Aspknium Ebenoicles»

Still rarer than the pinnat-
ifid spleenwort is Aspleniiim
ebenoidcs. It can hardly be
said to have a definite range.
Here and there plants have
been found over a wide terri-
tory, and new stations be-
yond its known distribution
are occasionally reported,
but in nearly every case the
surroundings are such as to
indicate the possibility of its
being a hybrid between two
more common ferns, Asplc-
n'luni ebcncum and Camptoso-
riis rhisophyllus. Much ink
has been wasted in arguing
for and against this theory of
hybridity and botanists are
still divided in opinion
regarding it. Those
who favour the theory
point as evidence to
the facts that the spores
are generally abortive, that its
fronds are exceedingly variable in
shape, and that it occurs only here
and there as a chance hybrid might
do and always in the vicinity of
its supposed parents. Those who
believe it to be a distinct specie;

AifUnium ibittoidis.

170

TUB ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

(i^i

reply that th.)ii};li widely scattered, in no case is its habitat
exactly like tiiat of its supposed parents ; for while the eb-
ony splecnwort grows at tiie tops and bases of clifTs, and
Camptosorus grows on the shelving sides of mossy rocks,
AspUnium idaioii/rs prefers the niches under overhanging
ledges. In addition, the processes of reproduction in
ferns are such as to alTord very small chance for hybridiza-
tion. If, following Lowe's successful experiments in
crossing ferns by sectioning the prothallia and bringing
tile anthcridia of one fern in contact with the archegonia
of another, we could produce a plant like cbcnoidcs from
the sectioned prothallia of its supposed parents, the fact
of its hybridity miyht be regarded as proven. Exper-
imcntsare being made in this direction at present, but
until we have definite results, it seems better to consider
this a distinct species.

In outline the fronds are much like those of the pin-
natifid spleenwort, but are not easily confused owing to
the fact that the pinnules are thinner, narrower, longer
and pointed. The blade tapers from a broad base to a
slender tip and is fully pinnate below and deeply pinnat-
ifid above. There is great diversity in the shape and
arrangement of the pinnules, however. Some are eared
on one side, some on both, others not at all but are at-
tached to the rachis by a broad base. The pinnjE are very
unequal in length, the longest often standing next to one
that is merely a short green ear. Some fronds, which
appear to be juvenile examples, have a broad blunt apex
and the lower portion merely toothed or lobed. In this
feature of producing some fronds without tapering tips,
it resembles the walking fern. The figure in Eaton's
"Ferns of North America" does not much resemble
average specimens. Like the pinnatifid spleenwort, this

THE ROCK SPLEENWORTS.

«7«

den check, as by cold, just as ^»^^ ' ° ,^^ ^^j.^-

said to greatly increase it. I" ^"^^^J °^^^^. .^^.^^n

S.; wh"e;etu;:re„.Uu>-a deep ravine near Havana,
^'rUnaer.ooa..ocoUee.a^U^^^^

^r:,;:::::;^*'«bu. .ir,rona u ..^ ....ner .,„,,

in Tat species. In habitat, however, .t .s very c o»e to

hat sDecteErowing under overhanging rock, ; .n th,<

relet '. s fotally unlike both A.el.a.,m and C.„„f.

r»" its supposed parents. It appears to be mult.ply.

"as many young plants were ^'-'"f"^'"^''^;,
This myth of hybridity may be put aside, (or As/,/.,.„m
217s is as clearly defined a species as we possess ,n
"us AspMum and has no near relatives outsule
Us own genus." The plant figured was collected b,
Prof. Underwood at the Alabama station.

There are two other spleenworts for which a place is
sometimes claimed among American ferns, though the
proof of their occurrence .in this country rests upon

;

j
i

>72

THE ROCK SPLLt NVV(JUrS.

somewhat doubtful evidence. Tlic first is Asf>/iiituiii
mariiium which fifty years ago was reported from Nuv.i
Sct)tia and Newfoundland. No specimens of it from
America are known at present and it is supposed ii.at
the fern was referred to this country by mistake. 1 he
plant is not uncommon along the coast on the otiicr side
of the Atlantic and may yet be found in New England
on some rocky ledge near the sea. It is an evergreen
species, growing in tufts, with thick linear-lanceolute
fronds of a deep glossy green. They are usually auuut
si.x inclies long and borne on short dark-brown sttjars.
The blade is simply pinnate with short, broatl, bitoit.
toothed pinn.L- connected along the ratliis by a narmu
wing of tissue.

As to the second species, Asplcnium /oiitatiinii. the
evidence is fully as uncertain. It is supposed to
have been collected near VVilliamsport, Lycoming Co.,
Penn., in 1869 and sent with other specimens to Prof.
T. C. Porter of Lafayette College, where it lay
unrecognised for twenty years. By the time the plants
were identified as specimens oi A. foil fan urn and con-
nected with the VVniliamsport locality, the collector had
died and with him died the knowledge of the exact
locality for the plant, if, indeed, he ever collected it.
Two sharp-eyed collectors who at once ransacked
the general region returned empty handed and no trace
of it has since been found. Later another locality for
the plant was reported from Ohio, also by Prof. Porter,
who found specimens among plants distributed by a
local collector. No locality for these specimens has
since been found and it would seem that the plant has
been mistakenly ascribed to America. The fern is
common in the Old World, however, and possibly may

THfc KOCK bPLtBN WORTS,

I7J

occur here. It is descibcU iis foil.AVs :
Roulstuck sliort. ascc.id.ng; stipes
tuftcil. ...,c tn iluoc inches lung, su.uc-
vvlial bl.ickisi» at base especially on the
inner side, usually glabrous; fronds
Linccolate. broadest above the nuddle.
tlim. two to three pinnate, three t<> mx
inches \>ng, acuminite at the apex,
narrowed at the base ; segnients deeply
dentate with spinulosc tcetl\ ; sori one
to four on each se^'inent. The indu-
sium is sli,htly curved, and for this ...--«>---"
reason it is often proposed to place tins spcc.es with the
U/irnnms. Our illustration is drawn from specimens
from Central Europe, in the author's herbarium.

The generic name Asphnium is derived from the Greek
and means without a spleen in allusion to the belief once
current that herds which fed upon this plant were with-
out spleens. In an old volume we find the statement
that " If the asse be oppressed with melancholy, he eates
of this herbe and so eases himself of the swelling of the
spleen." There are about three Inindred and fifty spe-
cies in the world.

I i

i !

s '

" If you would see the lady fern
In all her graceful power.
Go look for her where woodlarks learn
Love-songs in a summer bower.

• • • '

Go look for the pimpernel by day,

For Silene's flowers by night.
For the first loves to bask in the sunny r^-
And the last wooes the moon's soft light;
But day or night the lady fern

May catch and charm your eye,
When the sun to gold her emeralds turn

Or the moon lends her silvery dye.
But seek her not in early May
For a Sibyl, then, she looks.
With wrinkled fronds that seem to say,

* Shut up are my wizard books.'
Then search for her in the summer woods

Where rills keep moist the ground.
Where foxgloves from their spotted hoods

Shake pilfering insects round ;
Fair are the tufts of meadowsweet

That '^aply blossom nigh,
Fair are the whorls of violet

Prunella shows hard by ;
But not by burn, in wood or dale.

Grows anything so fair
As the plumy crests of emerald pale

Of the lady fern, when the sunbeams turn
To gold her delicate hair."— Campbell.

THE LADY FERN AND ITS KIN,

N our latitudes the earth-lov-
ing splcenworts are all tall
and graceful plants with
very little in their bearing
to suggest a relationship
to the members of the
family that grow on rocks.
They are more like some
of the wood ferns a<^d no
" ~^ doubt are frequently mis-

taken for them. A glance at the sori on mature fronds,
Wevr is quite suf^cient to settle the question. suKe .t
•show t' e Aspknioid character of the hnear soru
These species have always been classed as ^f^'-^-'-^
America but owing to the fact that the mdus.a n some
are more or less curved on the side attached to the
frond and when young often appear to be "early semj-
circular. it is now considered better to follow the BrU.sh
practice and place them in the genus ^/A^riwm.

The Lady Fern,

Our ideas as to which of the ferns is most abundant
are likely to vary somewhat with the t.me of ye^r and
the locality in which we may happen to be. In early
mL. we arc inclined to award the palm to the cmnamon
fcr,r; in J,.ly, to the bracken ; while a vis.t to some mo.st

i i

LADY FKRN.

AthyriHm/ili.r-JirmiHii.

THE LADY FERN AND ITS KIN.

shady woodland at any time of
year might decide us in favour
t)f some wood fern. But the
matter can not be regarded as
decided until the claims of the
lady fern {Athyrium filix-foem-
inn) have been considered.
While it may not be the most
abundant in any one locality, its wide
range of habitat from deep woodlands to
open swamps, stony pastures and dusty
roadsides gives it a larger representation
than one would at first imagine. In any
event it is always common enough to be
found by the young collector and attrac-
tive enough to be worth the finding.

Although a pretty and decorative species,
the lady fern seems scarcely to deserve all that
the poets have said of it. it is barely possible
that much of this praise is due to the fact that
the poet seldom feels sure of his species, owing
to a defect in his botanical education, and so
the few he does know come in for all the
credit. Scott's four lines.

"Where the copse-wood is the greenest,
Where the fountain glistens sheenest,
Where the mountain dew lies longest.
There tiie lady fern is strongest."

have been quoted in every fern book since they
were written, which must be our excuse for in-
cluding them.

Less familiar are the fairly descriptive lines
by Edwin Lees of which three stanzas are
here given.

THE LADY FBKN AND ITS KIN. '»'

« When in splendour and beauty all nature is crowned
The fern is seen curling, half hid in the ground,
But of all the green brackens that rise by the bum.
Commend me alone to the sweet lady fern.

By the fountain I see her just spring into sight.
Her texture as frail as though shivering with fright;
To the water she shrinks. I can scarcely discern
In the deep humid shadows the soft lady fern.

Where the water is pouring, forever she sits
And beside her the Ouzel, the Kingfisher Hits;
There supreme in her beauty, beside the full urn ^
In the shade of the rock, stands the tall lady fern.

The following lines from Howitt were sent to the author
by a lady who suggests that the last o..e may have
been intended as a hint to those vandals who dd-ght to
uproot and carry away all they can find of a rare plant,
simply because it is rare.

"And when thou art in lonely glen.

Keep by the running burn.
And do not pluck the strawberry flower
Nor break the lady fern."

In my opinion the most quaint and descriptive poem upon

Pinna of variety natnm. A common lorm.

this species is the one by Calder Campbell, parts of

which preface this chapter. • ...i„ tuff;

The fronds of the lady fern spnng m circular tufts

from a large horizontal rootstock and often reach a

182

THB LAUy FHKN ANU IIS KIN.

Iciigtli of tlircc foet. The crosiers are of interest from
the colours tliey present early in tlie year. In some va-
rieties tiie stipes are a clear wine colour with light, thin
scales and contrast very prettily with the yellow-green of
the uncoiling blades. The blades themselves are on long
stipes and are exceedingly variable in the cutting of the
piimules. Nearly a hundred varieties from Europe have

been described. The com-
monest form with us is prob-
ably tiiat with oblong-ovate,
acute, twice pinnate fronds
with the secondary pinn;e
again lobed or toothed. The
primary pinn.e are about oblong-lanceolate, acute or
acuminate, and set at sufficient distances from each other
to render the frond light and graceful. Mr. H. D. Gilbert
has recently identified some twenty varieties from Amer-
ican localities, none of which are the results of cultivation.
This species is noted for having pinnules missing here
and there throughout the fronds.

Ordinarily there is scarcely any difference in the ap-
pearance of fertile and sterile fronds. The sori are borne
in a double row /I -i

Fruiting pinnule cnlart;cd.

??>.,

on each pinnule
and the indusia
are attached to
the frond by a

curving edge. a form from sunny thickets.

When young they e.\ti.nd in the shr^.pe of a horse-shoe
across the veins which bear them. The novice who ex-
amines them at this stage of their growth may jump to
the conclusion that his plant is some species oi AspUium
but later the sori become almost straight as in the true

THE LADY F£RN AND US KIN.

183

Asrlamnns. It is a nice ciucslio.i to decide whether or
not the position and behavior of the indusium entitle
this fern to be put in a separate genus.

The name of lady fern is of very ancient origin, going
back to the time when this was supposed to be the spe-
cies whicli bore the " mystic fern seed," so valued for its
reputed power to render its possessor invisible. In those
days it was not lady fern, but female fern, the male fern
being Aspidium filix.mas. The original female fern was
the bracken, but when the name was transferred to this
fern, many of the miraculous powers ascribed to the
bracken seem to have come with it. Some curious stories

'^m^^^

A woodland form.

are told of this wonderful fern seed. In one. a man
passing through a wood when the seed was ripe, got
Lmc hUo his shoes without knowing it. which of course
eiTdered him invisible. Reaching home he entered, but
his presence was not noticed. When he spoke, the family
were startled at the sound of his voice and supposed lum
o be hidin^'. At length, hearing him walking about the
room they U.ought of the fern seed and calhng to him
to take of! his shoes, he did so, and became visible again,
'^'n Rlia.in addition to its other virtues, fern seed^.s
supposed to confer second sight. It is related that a
nr^vvnt out to search for his cattle, when some fern

seed fell into his shoes. He at once ^---^-^ ^^^^J. ^'^
were and discovered a buried treasure besides. Going

■ 84

THH LADY FERN AND ITS KIN.

home for a shovel with
which to dig it up, his
wife unfortunately in-
duced him to change
his shoes, when the
fern seed fell out and
was lost and with it
went all knowledge of
the treasure. In
Swabia it was believed
that fern seed brought
by the devil near mid-
night would enable one
man to do the work of
thirty. It must be
confessed that fern
seed received in such a
manner would go a
long way toward con-
vincing one of its
powers.

The lady fern is
found in nearly all
parts of North Amer-
ica and is equally com-

THE HAUNTS OF THE LADY FERN.

THH LADY F' RN AND ITS KIN.

'«S

mon in the Old World. It is one of tlie easiest of ferns
to cultivate and will grow in almost any soil if K'vcn
moisture and partial shade. This species is frequently
called a brake, and is also occasionally known as back-
ache fern. The rhizome of the European species is erect
or ascending and commonly rises a few inches above the
soil. That of our plant is long and creeping, which seems
to indicate that the two arc not identical. In this case
our plant would be known as Athyriuvi Mnliauxn
or perhaps more properly Athyrium filix-famiua Muh-
auxii. In northwestern America there is a form that is
taller and broader, with indusia so curved that they ap-
pear almost ci. cular with a narrow sinus. It was formerly
considered a variety of the lady fern and named cycloso-
rum. It is now generally thought to be a distmct
species.

The Silvery Spleenwort,

The best place to look for the silvery spleenwort
(Athyrium thelypterotdes) is in the rich moist wo.m , on
the borders of the crested fern's haunts where it delights
to grow among the Jack-in-the-pulpits, Trilliums. Solo-
mon's Seals and other lily-like plants. It is an unas-
suming plant as ferns go, with few characteristics suflfi-
ciently striking to make it prominent among its sister
species. Unless one is making a clean sweep of every
woodland, it is possible for it to exist in his locality
for years without being discovered. When growing in
clumps, its resemblance to s.nne of the wood ferns,
especially the marsh and New York ferns, is quite

. close. ,

The rootstock is thick, horizontal and creeps >ear the
surface. The fronds are produced sin-ly from the ^i ow-

186

TUB l.AUY FHRN AND ITS KIN.

in^ end but soon form a nearly circular clump two or
three feet liiijli. The stout youn^; crosiers arc covered
with larjic brown scales which .seldom persist until
the froiuls m.iture. The stipe and rachis are strewn
with slender chaff and the upper surface of the fronds is
often covered with longish hairs that yive it a peculiarly
velvety effect when growinij. It is not very noticeable

SILVERY SI'LEENWORT. Athyr,»mthihpttroidu,

in herbaiiuni specimens, and the books arc silent upon
the subject, althoujjh in the field one can often identify
the species by this single feature.

The blade is about oblong, tajjering both ways from
the middle, but is never so groiitly reduced below as is
that of the New York fern. It is thin and delicate, with
oblong, acuminate pinna; cut nearly to the midrib into
short, close, rounded, obscurely serrate lobes. When
the fronds are exposed to the sun, the blades become
thicker, narrower, more erect and yellow-green in colour.
Curiously enough, although they do not grow in full
sunlight from choice, they are most fruitful in such situa-
tions. The stipe is about one third the length of the
fioiul.

SILv

tRY SeLttNWUKf .ii„y ui»i lu^'\pti;r^iil'-i.

\t\)i LADY FERN AND ITS KIN.

187

Fertile an^ terile fronds are much alike and tlie
former are si . . »ly distinguished from those of other spe-
cies by their rc1:ular rows of clear-cut sori. Beginning
at the base of each pinnule, these alternate on each side
of the midvein almost to the tip. They are usually set
close together and curve slightly outward at an
oblique angle nearly to the edge of the pinnule in a very-
pleasing pattern. Occasionally the lower sori are double,
opening away from each other, and on the long slender
tips of the pinn* they are nearly always so. In heavily
fruited fronds the fruit covers nearly all the under surface
of the blade. The indusia are rather thick and for most
of the summer retain the silvery white colour of their
youth thus giving the common name to the plant. 1 he
fronds do not survive the frosts.

This species is found from Canada and Minnesota to
Alabama. It also occurs in Eastern Asia. It is con-
sidered a fairly common species-never so common as
hclady fern, perhaps, although often forming dense
thkkets'in small areas. After studying it fornriany
years. I am inclined to agree with the author of "How
L Know the Ferns " that " although it cannot be classed
among the rare things, it is absent from many promising
Lllities." American authors frequently give this spec^
the name of As/>h',nnm acrosUchoidcs. Tin. is the older
by three years, but has never been commonly accepted.

The Narrow-Leaved Spleenwort,

The rarest of the larger /l./A«/«;;/Hs without doubt
tlJnarrow-leaved spleenwort ^Asplenuun ^"^'-^^'^^
According to Eaton, it has no very near relatives an>-
Cherf It is a true Aspleuiu.n and not an Aihyruon,

I88

THE LADY FERN AND ITS KIN.

but except for its fruitiiij; characters, it is more nearly
like the species in the latter genus and has therefore
been included in this chapter. It is found in low wood-
lands in situations similar to those chosen by the silvery
spleenwort though seldom if ever so abundant as that
species.

The fronds grow in tufts from a creeping rootstock
and sometimes reach a height of four feet, though they
are usually at least a foot shorter. They are exceedingly
thin and delicate, very sensitive to frosts and are often
destroyed by summer storms. The oblong-lanceolate,
icute blades are simply pinnate with many long, narrow,
entire or crenulate pinnules which taper outward from a
rounded, sessile, or shortly stalked, base to the slender
tips. The fertile fromis are usually the taller and the pin-
nules much narrower with the whole under surface cov-
ered by the long, sharply defined sori in two rows along
the midrib of each pinnule, much as in the silvery
spleenwort. Normally sterile fronds sometimes have a

t;;^_. few pinnules that are fertile in which case the spore-

^^-'iv^l bearing parts are narrow like the pinnules of the fertile
frond, showing how close is the relationship between

FRUITI.SG HINNiK.

NARROW LEAVED SPLFFNWORT. Asfi-nium angustt/olinm.
Sterile Frond.

THE LADY FEHN AND ITS KIN. 'By

spore-bcarintj and diminished leaf surface in this spc-

cies.

The narrow-Ieaved spleenwort is found from Cjuebec
to Wisconsin. Missouri and Tennessee. It is hkcliest to
be found in woods that are free from undergrowth. Its
liking for wet places obtains for it the name of swamp
spleenwort in some places and it is also called Kidney-fern.
It is easily cultivated and makis a very pretty adilition
to the fern garden where tall species with simply pin-
nate fronds are not common.

There are probably less than a dozen species in the
genus Atliyrunn as it is at present defined. '1 he genenc
name is from a word meaning opened and refers to the
appearance of the sori. The origin of the name Asple-
mum is given in the chapter on the Rock bpleenworts.

•• It is very pleasant and cheerful nowadays, when the brown and
withered leaves strew the ground and almost every plant is fallen, to
come upon a patch of Polypody .... on some rocky h.lls.de .n the
woods, where in the midst of dry and rustling leaves, defymg frost, it
stands so freshly green and full of life. My thoughts are with the
polypody a long time after my body has passed. ... The forest
floor is covered with a thick coat of moist brown leaves, but what is
that perennial and springlike verdure that clothes the rocks, of smal
green plumes pointing various ways. It is the cheerful community of
the polypody. It survives at least as the type of vegetation to remind
us of the spring that shall not fail.- Thokkau.

THE POLYPODIES.

II K polypodies l)cK)iijj In
the lari;c^t of the fern
families. There are nearly
four hundred spc. ies in
the world, mostly in the
Tropics, Only five species
extend into nortlicastern
America, and three o f
these are considered by
many botanists to belong,'
to a closely allied pen us
which they name JVici;«/>-
tcris. This name, it may
be said, was once the n.inie
of a section of the ^enus
rktic-ft.rii nryxpitri:. Pol\fodium and those who

call our plants species of Plic^optcris, simply consider
this section worthy of ReMcric rank. As in the true poly-
podies, the fruit dots are without indusia of any kind but
tlie phej^opterids differ in havinj; the fruit on the luuls
of the veins while in the Polypodiums they arc on the
I mis. In Polypodium. too. the stipes are jointed to the
rootstock, while in /'///•.c-^/ZtT/.v, as in most of our common
ferns, they are not. Phcgopteris is also very closely al-
lied to the wood fern genus, differing principally in the
lack of an indusium. In habit, also, the species are much
like the wood ferns and it is probable that they will

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196

THE POLYPODIES.

ultimately be included in this family notwithstanding
the absence of the indusium. For our present purpose
we shall include them with the other non-indusiate
forms.

The Common Polypody,

Wherever there is a shaded ledge of
rocks in the northeastern States one is
almost sure to find the polypody {Poly-
podium vu'gare). There is no question
as to choice of location with this sturdy
species. All are alike to it, provided
there are rocks upon which it can grow.
The only preference it has is for the
tops and upper shelves of the rocks
where the soil is moderately dry. So
characteristic is it in such situations
that when one sees a fern clad rocky
summit from a distance too great to
discern the individual fronds he identi-
fies them with confidence as this spe-
cies.

The fronds of the polypody are thick
and leathery and remain green all
winter. They grow from a slender,
brown-scaly, branching rootstock that
creeps at the surface of the soil, and
are produced during most of the early
summer. They are ordinarily about a
foot long with a short slender stipe and
narrow pinnatifid or pinnate blade.
The pinnules are linear, usually blunt at the ends, and

COMMON
POLYPODY.

Polypodium vulgar

PLATE V! THF COMMON POLYPODY. Poiypoiiium vuigare.

-.6' FftECtmCK A 8T0<(E» COMPANY

THE POLYPODIES.

■97

broaden somewhat as they join the rachis. Occasionally
they are slightly serrate. It sometimes happens that
fronds of this species are mistaken by the novice for
those of the Christmas fern which are also pinnate, but
the latter may always be distinguished by the eared
pinnules.

About the middle of June the bright yellow-brown
sori begin to appear. They are found on the backs of
ordinary fronds in a double row near the margins of the
pinnules and mostly in the upper two thirds of the frond.
They are round, very regular in arrangement and so
large as to be quite conspicuous, looking like little buttons.
Except the narrow-leaved chain fern, none of our species
produce sori so large. There is no indusium.

Among its common names are adder's fern, golden
polypody, golden-locks, moss fern, stone fern, stone
brake and wall fern. Most of these are of obvious deri-
vation. It was once considered valuable as a pectoral
and, boiled with sugar, was a remedy for the whooping
cough. Little, if any, use is made of it at present. Ac-
cording to some authorities, this is the original oak fern
although Phegopteris Dryopteris now has the title.

The polypody has numerous varieties but few of them
are worthy of special note. The most famous is the
Welsh polypody which has a frond much broader than
the normal with the pinnae cut nearly to the midrib
into narrow segments making a bipinnatifid frond. It
is called the variety Cambricum, and is supposed to be
always sterile. It was originally found in Wales and has
seldom been noted in this country but is likelv to occur
in any locality where the type is common. The other
varieties reported are angustiim with narrow serrate pin-
nules, rotundattim with short, round-ended pinnules and

ujS

THE POLYPODIES.

cristatuin with pinnules variously forked and crested.
A form from West Virj;inia has recently been described
as J\ vu/g(irc dcciptuin. It differs from the common
form in beiny; somewhat larger with narrower, pointed
pinna;. This was earlier considered a mere form and
named hisirratum. Considering the unimportant differ-
ences it displays, the earlier view seems the correct one.
In North America the polypody is
found from Alabama to the far north
and northwestward. Its 'natural habi-
tat is upon rocks but it is occasionally
found upon trees and logs where the
atmosphere is moist. In the moister
climate of England, it is said to be very
commonly found on trees. In our
western States, it is rare or absent,
but its place is taken by several allied
species that much resemble it. It is a
tough and hardy species able to en-
dure great extremes of temperature
and is found in nearly all parts of the
world.

"The Gray Polypody,

The little gray polypody [Polypo-
ifiinii incanutu) may be termed a strag-
gler into our territory from a warmer
region. It is most abundant in the
Tropics, where it grows on rocks, trees,
walls and even on tlie roofs of the
houses. In the northern yint of its
range, it is usually found on rocks or about llic roots of

<.KAV POI.VPODV

}\>iypo. iiii in i iicti n ;i t/t .

BEECH FERN. Phfi;oplnis polypodioides.

THE POLYPODIES.

'99

trees, although in the Gulf States it may be found high
upon the trunk or branches.

In appearance it is nearly an exact duplicate of the
common specijs with the same creeping, scaly rootstock
and leathery, pinnatifid, or pinnate, fronds. It is, how-
ever, rather smaller and further distinguished by having
the stipe and under surface of the blade tiiickly covered
with gray, or brownish, peltate scales with darker centres.
The upper surface may be slightly scaly, though it is
usually smooth. The sori are of medium size and borne
near the margins of the pinnules but are seldom notice-
able owing to the scales by which they are surrounded.
Usually they are so deeply sunk in the blade as to form
little bosses on the upper surface.

Since this species grows in situations where moisture
is a very uncertain quantity, it has acquired the trick of
curling up its fronds when drought comes and remaining
in a comatose condition until the next rain, when they are
again unrolled and life proceeds as before. During a
drouth the fronds have been known to uncurl in a heavy
dew.

Among its common names are hoary polypody, scaly
polypody, tree fern and resurrection fern. Tree fern is
from its habit of growing in the treetops, and resurrection
fern refers to its habit of revival after a drought.

This species is found as far north as Virginia, Illinois
and Missouri but is not common except in the Gulf
States. According to strict priority, this species should
have polypodioidcs for its specific name. This being
translated would mean, simply, a polypody that is like a
polypody ! Incanmn is a name far better known to bot-
anists and is the one generally used.

«» THE POLYPODIES.

The Beech Fern,

To find the beech fern {riicfroptcris polypodioidcs) in its
greatest luxuriance the collector must visit the cliffs and
ravines where dripping ledges provide dwelling places
to Its liking. One soon comes to associate it mentally
with the drip and splash of falling water, and the gurcle
of small streams.

The rootstock is long and cord-like with many branches
and wanders extensively just beneath the surface. In
spnng, long before the fronds unfurl, the clusters of
crosiers covered with small light-coloured scales just
peeping above the earth are often noticeable along the
rocks, in appearance suggesting the budding horns of
the deer. The fronds are produced all summer and
owing to the branching and interlacing of the rootstocks
are usually found in dense clumps, filling every inch
of the ledge on which they are rooted. When young
there is a bend where stipe and blade join so that the
soft, limp blades hang downward while unfolding like
the wings of a newly hatched butterfly.

Mature fronds are often eighteen inches long. The
blades do not vary greatly in size but the stipe is long
or short as necessity demands, being always of sufficient
length to extend the blade out into the light. The stipes
commonly grow nearly upright, but the blades make a
sharp angle and bend gracefully outward, especially when
growing in a niche in the rocks. In shape they are
triangular, somewhat longer than broad and once pin-
nate. The pinnre arc rather long, narrow and acute and
cut nearly to the midrib into oblong, blunt segments.
In the upper part of the frond, the pinnae are decurrent

■^^'vli/.//

BEECH FERN. P/ugopf.ris polypodioides.

THE POLYPODIES. mi

on the rachis, forming a lobcd border along it, but the
lower pinna: are separate. The lowest pair are lanceolate
instead of linear and are brought forward and downward
in a striking and characteristic manner. In herbarium
specimens, owing to the flattening of the frond, much of
this appearance is lost, but when the plant is fresh this
feature may almost serve to identify it. The fronds are
thin, glandular beneath, and slightly scaly on the rachis
and ribs. Sometimes both surfaces are pubescent. The
fronds are not evergreen and wither early in autumn.

The sori begin to appear in June. They are borne on
both edges of the segments of ordinary fronds and are
without indusia as in the true Polypodies. They are
quite small and rarely extend to the tips of the seg-
ments.

The name of beech fern is said to have been given to
this species from a supposition that it is partial to the
shade of the beech tree, but a wet rock would seem to be
nearer its first requisite, at least with us. It is also called
sun fern, perhaps from its growing in exposed places.
Many botanists call this Phcgopteris Phcgupteris. When
Linnaeus named it, he thought it was a Polypodium and
called it Polypodium phcgopteris. Later it was taken out
of this genus, and pJaced in a new one created to re-
ceive it, and christened Phcgopteris polypodioides. The
question as to which specific name it shall bear depends
entirely upon whether or not we should allow it a new
specific name when the ori-rinal one has been taken as
the name of the genus. Botanists, generally, dislike the
practice of making generic and specific names the same.

This species is found from Virginia, Iowa, and Wash-
ington to the far North but is seldom found except in
the vicinity of rocks. It also grows in northern Europe

202

THE POLYPUDIES.

and Asia. It takes readily to cultivation and is excellent
for plantin- on rockeries, each small bit of rootstock
soon producing a thrifty colony.

The Broad Beech Fern,

The indiscriminatin- collector might gather the broad
beech fern KPhcgoptiris hcxagonoptcra) for many seasons
and not surmise that he had anything more 'than the
common species, so near alike are they in shape, habit
and the cutting of the fronds. The differences, however,
are quite apparent when once pointed out and all botanists
agree that each is a distinct species.

The broad beech fern is a lover of the deep shady
woodlands and cares nothing for rocks. It delights in
moist soil, but does not avoid dryish shades and Ls often
to be found in the company of the New York fern. The
rootstock is slender and creeping and the fronds are
scattered along it at short intervals. The slender, erect,
straw-coloured stipes are nearly twice the length of the tri-
angular blades and the latter are pinnate with deeply pin-
natifid pinna;. The blades arc usually broader than
long and the pinn.x are also broader, approaching a lanceo-
late form, in this differing from the common beech fern.
The lowest pair of pinna; are much the largest, broadly
lanceolate, narrowed at base with narrow, crenulate-
toothed or lobed segments, the longest nearly an inch in
length. They may sometimes be deflcxed though com-
monly they are not. The decurrcnt pinna; form a con-
spicuous angled wing along the rachis that usually extends
to the lower pair. The sori are borne on the backs
of ordinary fronds. They are mostly near the margins
of the segments and rather small.

This species averages somewhat larger than the com-

^^^^J^^^S^^mmmm^

"^mm^-

"^^^^^^ ,

BROAD BEECH FERN. Plugoptcris hcxagonoptcra.

THE POLYPODIES.

ao)

mon beech fern and the fronds are more erect. They
are also thinner with fewer hairs and scales. The
crushed fronds of both species emit a peculiar ferny odour
from the minute glands scattered over their blades.
This odour differs slightly with the species and one
with an acute sense of smell might bring it into use
in identifying them.

In the matter of range hexagonoptera again shows a
difference. It is a southern species, extending from the
Gulf of Mexico to Canada. It has not as yet been
found in the Old World. The angular wings of the
rachis have suggested the specific name and also the
common one of six-angled polypody. Specimens inter-
grading between this and the common beech fern are
said to be occasionally found.

The Oak Fern,

Should the collector in crossing a piece of rich moist
woods find nestling among the violets, mitreworts and
trilliums, a tiny fern with a blade " like three fronds
in one " that would pass for a good miniature of the
bracken, he will be warranted in concluding that it is the
oak fern {Phegopteris Dryopteris). The rootstock is like
that of the beech fern — slender and creeping — and the
fronds are produced all summer. They sometimes at-
tain a height of more than fifteen inches but are usually
much shorter. The stipes are very slender and the
blade triangular, ternate, and of a delicate shade of yel-
low-green. At the top of the stipe the blade divides
into three nearly equal, triangular, stalked divisions, each
of which is pinnate with sessile, deeply pinnatifid, blunt-
lobed pinnae. The middle division of the blade is slightly
the largest and the pinnules of the lateral divisions are

204 THE POLYPODIES.

lon^^cst on the lower side. Even in unfurling, the blades
show their ternate character, each division being rolled
up separately. These three little green balls on their
slender thread-like stalks are exact miniatures of the
conventional sign of the pawnbroker. The ultimate
segments are often slightly toothed and the rather in-
conspicuous sori are borne near their margins.

A form of the oak fern, often called the limestone poly-
pody {Phegoptcris Dryopteris Robcrtiand) is occasional
in Canada and the northwestern United States. It is
distinguished by its larger size, glandular fronds, greater
rigidity, and in having the lower pinnules on the lateral
divisions of the frond scarcely longer than the others.
It is frequently considered to be a distinct species and
named P.calcarca, but the opinion of the majority places
it as a variety of the common form.

The oak fern is found from Virginia, Kansas and Col-
orado to the far North and also in Europe and Asia.
The variety is also found in the Old World. The plant
is a lover of moist and rocky woods and makes an excel-
lent species for cultivating at the base of the artificial
rockery. The initial for this chapter shows a frond of
this fern.

The name Polypodiian is from the Greek and means
many feet. By some, this is conjectured to be in allusion
to the branching rootstocks of certain species, but it
seems quite as likely to refer to the numerous roots
which nearly all produce. One writer observes of our
common species that " the rhizome when destitute of the
fronds has the appearance of some kind of sea polypus."
Phcsoptcris means literally beech fern. As the latter
genus is defined at present, it contains nearly a hundred
speties.

The broad beech fern is a lover of tlie ilcej) sliatly wooillaiids.'

THE BLADDER FERNS.

' Mark ye the ferns that clothe these dripping rocks

The crosier-headed ferns, most fresh and rare,
Their hairlike stalks, though trembling neath the shock
Of falling spraydrops, rooted firmly there.

' What quaint varieties. The leaflets grow

With a metallic lustre all their own ;
And velvet mosses, fostered by the flow
Gain a luxuriance elsewhere all unknown."

THE BLADDER FERNS.

hi; 1)1;rIiIlt fern family comprises
less than half a dozen species
distributed nearly throughout the
world though most abundant in
the North Temperate Zone. The
^5 j;cneric name, Cystoptcris, is the

(^^^3J^ Greek for bladder fern and is ap-
"* plied to these species in allusion to the
^J/(ff iiulusium which is liood-shaped and
slf^'^^'/.ittached to the irond by the broad
base on the inferior side of the sorus
and arching over it. The species are
mostly inhabitants of rocks and nr isu-
ally plentiful in mountainous i. ms.
Recently the attempt has been made to change the
generic name to Fi/ix. This name without doubt was
used for the genus before Cystoptcris was, but the latter
has been universally used by botanists for so long that
it is very unlikely that Filix will ever be accepted.

The Commoft Bladder Fern,

Shaded rocks in almost any locality are likely to har-
bour the common bladder fern {Cystoptcris frngilis). It
is fond of a niche in the cliff where its fronds may droop
gracefully outward but also grows on the talus of broken
rock at their bases and is often found in moist woods.
In the extent of its distribution, it yields only to the

aio

COMMON rtLAUDER FERX
Cystofteris /ragilis.

THE BLADDER FERNS.

bmckcn. It nccms equally
at home in the Tropics or
in lands where snow and
ice abound for nearly
half the year.

Of ail our native ferns,
this fragile little species
is first to put forth its
fronds in sprinpr. They
start into growth at the
first hint of a warmer
season, being often fully
spread before those of stouter
ami what appear to be hardier
species have be^un to uncoil.
Fronds continue to be pro-
duced all summer w hen the sea-
son is favourable, but frequent-
f the plant disappear before
August if exposed to drought. It is not
unusual, however, to find fresh and green
fronds even to November in the latitude of
southern New York, and the plants that
wither in suirmer may revive and put forth
new fronds later in the year.

The rootstock is rather slender and creeps
about in the chinks between the rocks. The
fronds are seldom more than fifteen inches
long, the stipe making up a little more than
half of this length. Mature fronds, however,
may reach a length of two feet, while moun-
tain forms may be reduced to four or five
inches. The blade is thin, narrowly oblong-

THE BLADDER FERNS.

211

ovate, acute and pinnate, the pinna: rather distant,
broadest at base and themselves piiinatifid or again pin-
nate. The pinnules are narrow, bluntish, lobed or
toothed and usually decurrent on the rachis. There is,
however, a wide range in the shape and cutting of the
fronds. Our illustrations show two interesting forms of
American specimens. A pinnule is also shown in the
Key to the Genera.

Not only is this species the first to put forth its fronds,
but it is one of the earliest to fruit and, unlike other
species which fruit early, fertile fronds may be found all
summer. Nearly every frond bears sporangia. The sori
are rather small and thickly scattered on the lobes of the
pinnules. Owing to the early withering of the indusia,
they usually appear as if naked. Only in the young-
est sori can the indusium be seen to advantage. It is
ovate, very thin, and taper pointed. From the shape of
the arching indusium, this species was anciently known
as the cup fern.

The fronds of this species are very easily confused with
those of Woodsia ohtnsa, with which it often grows, and
the difficulty in separating them is increased by the
evanescent nature of the indusia in both species. In
Cystoptcris, however, a careful search will usually reveal
enough shrivelled vestiges of the indusia to make identi-
fication sure. In Woodsia, too, the pinnae and pinnules
are ordinarily broader and blunter.

In America, the common bladder fern is found from
British America to Georgia and Arizona. It is frequently
called the brittle bladder fern, a translation of its specific
name. The name of white-oak fern has also been given
it, though for what reason does not appear. Several
varieties have been named but none of them are very

212

THE BLADDER FERNS.

striking and little attention is paid to
them. The variety dcntata has narrow
bipinnate fronds with blunt pinna; and
pinnules, the latter toothed. The
variety atigustata has broad, nearly tri-
pinnatc fronds witli acute, rather lan-
ceolate, pinnules with sharply toothed
lobes. Variety laciiiiata has the
pinnules cut into irregular narrow
teeth.

The author once collected this
species in the mountains of a tropi-
cal islan('. where it grew in the
crevices of a ledge that interrupted
the flow of a mountain torrent.
When the rainy season swells
the volume of water, all the
fronds arc washed away, but as
soon as it subsides, a new crop
is produced. Since there are
two rainy seasons in this place
the plant seems regularly to
produce two sets of fronds
each year.

BUI.BIFRROUS

BLADDER

FERN.

Cy/'tfl/'tfris

hulii/cra.

The Bulbiferous
Bladder Ftrn,

Wherever there is a line of
shaded, dripping cliffs, especial-
ly in limestone regions, one may look for
the bulbiferous bladder fern {Cystopteris

rsr

COMMON BLADDtR FtRN. Cviloptiiii /rti^^/iti.

THE BLADDER FERNS.

213

btilbifera). In such places it grows in great luxuriance
and is a singularly decorative species, with long narrow
fronds hanging downward over the face of the rock in
such profusion as to cover it like a curtain.

Full grown fronds are frequently four feet long. They
are on short stipes and twice pinnate, the oblong pinnules
toothed, or the lowest deeply lobed. In cutting, the pin-
nae have considerable resemblance to those of C. fragilis,
but the frond as a whole is very different, being widest
across the basal pinn.-E and tapering outward with regular
gradations to the long slender apex. The blades are
finely glandular underneath and very fragrant specimens
are occasionally reported, the fragrance being doubtless
due to these glands.

In appearance the fertile and sterile fronds do not differ
materially. The sori are borne in what approximates a
double row on each pinnule, a sorus near the base of each
tooth. The indusium ig not quite so evanescent in this
species as in C fragilis though it usually withers when
the spores are ripe. In young fruiting fronds it may be
very clearly seen. Its apex is truncate.

Although this species produces spores as freely as any,
its principal means of propagation is probably by the
bulblets which nearly every mature frond bears upon its
under surface. These are about the size of a grain of
pepper and are borne on one or several of the pinna;
usually in the apical half of the frond. They are in the
nature of adventitious buds and consist of two or three
cotyledon-like masses enclosing one or more rudimentary
fronds. When these come in contact with the soil, they
put forth roots and are ready to begin life for themselves.
They form new plants much sooner than spores could
and the early fronds have less of the juvenile form.

THE BLADDER FERNS.

Cystopteris biilbifcra ranges iVoin Canada to Tennessee,
Arkansas and Wisconsin and is also reported from
Alaska. It is ratlier irregularly distributed, being very
common in some localities and entirely absent from
others that seem equally favourable to its growth. It if-
found on many rocks other than limestone and is excel-
lent for the rockery in the fern garden. This species
shares with the maidenhair the honour of being first to be
sent to the ( *Id World by botanical e.xplorcrs. In Great
Britain it is occasionally known as the berry-bearing
fern.

The Moimtain Bladder Fern,

The mountain bladder fern {Cystopteris moiitmia) is not
likely to be found by the eastern collector. It is a
rare species within our limits, coming south only as far
as Labrador and Northern Canada. It has also been
found north of Lake Superior and in the mountains of
Colorado. In Northern Europe and Asia it is rather
more abundant. It may be distinguished from the
other bladder ferns by its almost triangular fronds on
long straw-coloured stipes. It is usually about a foot
high and grows along woodland streams in deep shade.
The blade is thin, three to four times pinnate, the pinna;
much like the frond in shape. The pinnules are deeply
toothed and the sori abundant. The indusium is pointed
at the free end, and soon withers. Our illustration is
from a plant, rather smaller than ordinary, collected in
the Cape Nome gold fields.

THE CHAIN FERNS.

\Vc paused besiilc tlic pools tlial lie
boujjh ;
were a little sky

pan

Under the forest
seemed

::.ac

(iulfed ill a world below :
A firmament of purple ligiit

Which in the dark earth lay,
More boundless than the depths of night

And purer than the day ;
In which the lovely forest grew

As in the upper air
More perfect both in shape and hue

Than anv spreading there." — Shki.LF.V.

<«,..»-•

■/^

/. -..

?7/<<

THE CHAIN FERNS.

|m; chain ferns arc most at home m
tlie sandy swamps along the Atlantic
seaboard, and unless the collector
lives within a short distance of the
ocean, he is likely to see compara-
lively little of them. One species, it
is true, is found sparin:-;ly in inland
swamps throughout m o s t of the
northeastern States but it is never
plentiful cnou-h to become com-
mon. One is likely to always re-
member the day upon which he first
found it in his locality. The family
is distingui-shed from others by the
f.ict that the species bear their spor-
.uijjia in ohlon-,' sori parallel to the
midvein, differing in this respect
from the Asplaiiums whose sori arc
..Inique to the midvcin. Otherwise
the fruit dots are not so very unlike.

The Common Chain Fern.

It is a frequent occurrence for collec-
to's to mistake the fronds of the common
chain fern {Woodivanna Vir^inicd) for
those of the ubiquitous cinnamon fern.
When growing in dense clumps they are
practically indistinguishable until one is

220

; I

THK CHAIN FhHNS

close to them. Then their separation is veiy simple and
one marvels at nature's versatility in making two species
so alike and yet so unlike. Their resemblances arc ccn-
fiiied entirely to the sterile fronds, their differences are
everywhere. The chain fern fruits on the backs of the
fronds; the cinnamon fern in a club-shaped spike: the
one has a slender rootstock and the fronds rise singly ;
in the other the rootstock is thick and the fronds grow
in crowns. Even the beginner, therefore, has no excuse
for confusing them.

The rootstock of the chain fern is about a quarter of
an inch in diameter. It creeps extensively in the mud

W'tyodzvardia \'iy^inicu. A fruiung pinn.i.

and ooze of its boggy haunts and sends up its fronds at
intervals all summer. These often reach a height of
five feet with stipes nearly as long as the blades. The
latter arc oblong-ovate and pinnate with oblong-lanceo-
late, acute pinn.E cut three-fourths of the way to the
midrib into slightly falcate, obscurely crenate, bluntish
pinnules. Although rather thick in texture, they do
not survive the winter. There is no perceptible difier-
encc in the form of fertile and sterile fronds. The oblong
sori are borne on tiie apical portion, one series in a double
row, near to and parallel with the midvein of each

\T^'

.4\-»^

..V .

^. - *■

V 'I

COMMON CHAIN l-tRi>i. ll'votiwiinUn litg/iiua.

! 1

THE CHAIN FERNS.

221

pinnule, and another scries of larger sori parallel with the
midribs of the pinna;. They appear as if partly sunk
in the issues of tlie frond and are covered with a
leathery indusiuin as with a lid. It does not require
a very lively imagination to see in the oblong sori
placed end to end a resemblance to the links in a chain
and the common name is therefore quite apjjropriate.
From its delight in mud and water, it is sometimes
called the bog fern. This species is also illustrated in the
Key to the Genera.

The chain fern is found from southern Canada to
l-'lorida, Louisiana and Michigan and also in Bermuda.
It is frcfpicnlly found growing in several inc'.^cs of water
near the coast where it is often so abundant as to al-
most fill the swamp, like a field of grain. Inland it is
likely to be found in sphagnum swamps among
Pogonias, pitcher-plants and other semi-aquatic vege-
tation. According to Eaton, the fronds may face in any
direction in bushy swamps, but when they are exposed
to the sun, all face toward the south. It is an excellent
species Tor cultivating on the borders of artificial lakes
in the fern garden. On the western coast of America,
there is a tall and robust species— Jf. rm/icans— which is
much like ours in general appearance, but is darker
green in colour. This is the only western species and is
widely distributed in other parts of the world.

T/)e Narrow- Leaved Chain Fern,

Like its relative, the narrow-leaved chain fern {U'ood-
wardia angustifolm) has the misfortune to resemble a
more plebeian species. This species is the sensitive fern
and the resemblance, as in the case of the other, extends

222

THE CHAIN FERNS.

. 1 o tl c sterde iron.U. Since botl. the sensitive f.n
.>iK the cha.n fern fru.t late in the year, tliere is a o

1-r of the season when tluy are easily confused -p.
c. ly .f the collector has never seen botl. grouing.' 1 1' .'
not to be n.ferred, however, that it is in^p^ssible. or eve
c ^^ficult, to separate the species .ij sterile W,

;Sj:/'"'^^''-^'-'^ ---■->'- of .is:

The rootstock is quite slender and crecpintj and the
ronds son.euhat scattered alon,. it. TlL .^ler e
twelve to twenty inches Ion. with slender, straw-colon ed
s .pesand<.vate blades cut nearly to the ..idrib in o
Obion,, acute lobes. Toward the base, the lobes incline
to be separate, the part nearest the rachis bein^r ^apidlv
narrowed n,to a broadly winged stalk. This nrakef the
blade appear pinnate, at least at base, but ther-. is usually
a "arrow wing of n.embrane connecting even the lowest
clms.on wuh the rest. All the pinnules are finely ser-
rate on the edges. ^

In June the taller fertile fronds begin to come up.

l^,\rr T/^" '''P"' "^^ ''''''' ""^'''^ ^'>^' sterile
f onds. Lven the sfpe is of a different colour, being

bbck and pohshed. while the blade is distinctly jiinnatJ
with long, narrowly-linenr. distant pinnules that seen,
just wide enough to l.old the two lines of large, heavy
sunken sor,. None of our other ferns have anlndusiu.n'
so th ck and corky, and perhaps for this reason the fer-
tile fronds are much heavier than the sterile. Lon^.
aer.ts usefulness has departed, this indusium remains
attached to the frond. There are n.any curious grada-
tions between fertile and sterile fronds both in the shape

oLt of !;■""" ""V" ^'•^"■^^^''-■- ^'^ the northern
part of us range, at least, this species is not evergreen

NARROW-LEAVED CHAIN FERN. lVoo<f:i<.jr>iia aiigustifolia.
F'ertile and Sterile Fronds.

■[

i I

i *

J ,!

P ii

THE CHAIN FERNS.

223

but the fronds arc amonj; tlic last to yield to the frost.
The fertile, although apparently dead, remain erect for
a L^rcat part of the winter and it is probable that many
of the spores are not released until spring.

This species is found along the Atlantic seaboard
from Maine to Florida. Inland it is reported from
stations in Arkansas, Tennessee and Michigan, but if it
occurs at points between, the fact has not been noted.
Within the limits marked by these stations, it is not im-
probable that more localities for it will be found. Ap-
parently it docs not ^row in salt marshes although it
loves their vicinity. It is most frequently found in
springy places in the twilight of pine and cedar groves.
I have found it neiglibouring the little Sc/iiz(ea in New
Jersey, and on Lon;^' Island its usual companion is
Aspidiitm siinuLitttin. 1 1 is frequently called Woodwardia
arcolata in tlie books, in reference to the interesting
series of aureoke formed by the veins of the sterile pin-
nules.

The genus was named in honour of Thomas Woodward,
an Englisli botani-^t. Tiiere are about si.K species,
mostly confined to the North Temperate zone.

r;-|V..

.^W^"^ '■

^%^

=%f ^

PLATE VIII. THE BULBIFEROUS BLADDER FERN. Crsf.fun^ huiiij,'a.

COP'TBIGMT l-O BY fRtOEHICPI • STOKES COMP«N»
PKINTCO IN AMeitlCA

: ,i

3 !

] i
I

Diiksoiiia j^rowftli in thickets ilix-p.

WluTi' tlie )>;r()tisc ;mil llif ral)l)it hide ;
liiit slie iDvctii bfst tlic Iwiildt-r rock

On the desolate moiiiitaiii side.

And there, tiunij^h sliaken l)y wind and storm,

The ulint of lier fronds is seen,
As she wreathes about the liclieiied stone

A circle of delicate green.

Fitted by Nature's loving hand

To dwell in the fairest bowers,
She has grace and beauty in every line

And the fragrance of the tlowers.

But oh, she loveth the free wilds best
And the cold, gray boulder's side

And there, adorning the rugged steeps,
Korever she will abide.

THE BOULDER FERN.

HE boulder fern {^Diiksonia pilosiuscula)
is one of the most beautiful and dec-
orative species of our entire fern
flora. Whether growing in clumps
in our lowland woods or spreading
over large areas in mountain pas-
tures and thickets, its shimmering
fronds are sure to catch the eye.
In many uplands the scenery cannot be properly men-
tioned without taking this fern into account. Those
who visit such places about midsummer will scarcely for-
get the picture formed by the broad gray-green fields
in which every boulder and rocky outcrop is outlined by
the brighter green of its fronds. Its predilection
for rocky fields is very marked. It seems never to grow
more thriftily than when clustering in little colonies
about some half buried rock fragment. By this trait,
alone, one can often identify the fern with certainty at
distances of half a dozen miles or more.

The rootstock creeps extensively near the surface of
the earth and frequently branches. Fronds are produced
all summer and form dense, tangled clumps. The stipe
often gives off a runner near its junction with the root-
stock and this also produces fronds, being in fact a sort of
secondary rootstock. In strong plants the blade is often
twenty-five inches or more in length and ten inches wide
at the base from whence it gradually tapers to the apex.

230

THE BOULDER FERN.

i i

^ Occasionally it is slightly
luinowcd below. It is
twice pinnate, the primary
pinniL- being oblong-lanceo-
lale and the secondary oblong-
ovate, deeply lobed and the lobes
again toothed. The stipes are a
shininc chestnut-brown and about
half the length of the fronds.

There is not much difference in
the appearance of fertile and ster-
ile fronds ; indeed the sori are so
inconspicuous that one has to
look rather closely to see them
at all and a magnifier is required
to satisfactorily make out their
parts. They are mostly situated
on the outer margins of the pin-
nules at the base of the segments.
The indusjum is fixed under the spor-
aneia and is held by a reflexed tooth
of the segment. Under a lens it
looks like a tiny green cup filled with
round spore-cases. The fronds are
minutely glandular-hairy and when
bruised in the hand give off a strong,
sweetish fragrance. The odour is
very noticeable in the drying plants.
During the haying season, whole
noui.DER counties in eastern Pennsylvania are
/i/v£"«*/;. thoroughly perfumed by the fronds
cut with the hay.
Among its common names are fine-haired

BOULDER f-tKN. Dtcksonia pilosiuscula.

THE BOULDER FERN.

aji

mountain fern, hairy Dicksonia, gossamer fern and hay-
scented fern. All but the last have reference to the
delicate structure and handsome cutting of the fronds.
To call this the hay-scented fern is certainly to *' damn
with faint praise."

The boulder fern is found from Canada to Alabama
and Minnesota. It is seldom entirely missing in any
locality in the northeastern part of its range, but one
must visit the stony uplands to see it at its best. It is
an excellent species for cultivation in the fernery but
the farmer has no desire for its presence in his fields.
Cattle will not eat it and it is almost impossible to eradi-
cate from stony soil.

Some botanists assert that our plant and the tree-like
species in other parts of the world are not of close enough
kinsliip to be placed in the same genus. They would
therefore call our species a Dcnnstadtia reserving the
name Dicksonia for the arborescent species. The genus
Dicksonia was named for James Dickson an English
botanist. There are about fifty spec.es in the world
twenty of which would be placed in Dennstcedtta if that
genus were recognised. There is but a single ^ecies in
North America.

A FRU'TING PINNA.

CHEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR.

" It is a quiet j{lcn. as you may see,
Sluit in from all intrusion by the trees

That spread their giant brandies, broad and free,
The silent growth of many centuries ;

And makes a hallowed time for hapless moods.

A Sabbath of the woods.

" And still the waters trickling at my feet

Wind on their way with gentlest melody.
Yielding sweet music, which the leaves repeat

Above them to the gay breeze gliding by ;
Yet not so rudely as to send one sound
Through the thick copse around."— SiMMS.

CHEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR.

T first glance the maidenhair fern
seems to have very little in common
with the various species of Cheilan-
thcs, but the way in which they all
fruit brings them very close together
in the opinion of botanists. Both
genera belong to the tribe of which
the bracken is a prominent member and, like the species
in that genus, bear their sori close to the margins of
the pinnules. But here the likeness ends, for there are
many patterns after which marginal sori may be arranged.
In the bracken the fruit is in long lines and covered with
linear indusia ; in the maidenhair it is under a re-
flexed tooth of the pinnule ; while in Cheilanthes the
edges of the pinnules simply curl over the fruit, and
scarcely form an indusium at all.

Cheilanthes Vestita,

This interesting little species is rather southern in its
distribution, beginning to be rare north of Maryland. It
once grew in what is now the northern part of New York
City and this is generally supposed to be the fern's
northern limit, but a station still further north has been
known to a few botanists since 1892 when the plant was
discovered near New Haven, Connecticut. This is its
northeastern limit, so far as known.

2J8

CMEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR.

Cluihtnthis vcstita is a conspicuous example of a rock-
loving ft-Tii tliat is not partial to limestone. It sh«\vs
a strong preference for igneous rock. At
the New Haven station it is described as
growing in the crevices of a basaltic cliff
and in nortiiern New Jersey it is most
frequently found on gneiss ledges.

Superficially it has a decided resem-
blancc to Woodsia Ilvcusis ami is not in-
frequently collected for it. Its fronds are
about the same size and shape, are hairy,
and the plant has the same fondness for
growing in dense little clumps on ex-
posed rocky crests. The species are not
difficult to distinguish between, when one
has both in hand ; the difficulty comes
when one collects a single species and
would be sure which it is. When other
signs fail, Chcilantlus may be known for
a certainty by its lack of a joint in the
stipe. The fronds are also somewhat
slenderer, and the pinnules narrower and
further apart.

The plant has a short, creeping root-
stock covered with hairlike brownish
scales, and shows its southern nature by
producing fronds until late autumn as if
there were no such things as frost and
snow. F.ven in the north, it appears to
be evergreen. The fronds are usually
from six to eight inches long, on short
stipes and narrowly lanceolate in outline.
They are twice pinnate, the primary pinna; about ovate,

ChtilitHtkts ftttila.

CHEILANTHKS AND MAIDbNHAlR. «39

and the secondary ohUm^ and deeply lobcd. Both
.idcs are invested with lon^; wliitish hairs which are
most abundant upon the under surface. The fronds are
daiiv j^rayish-tlieen, and the stipe and rachis are dark
chestnut-brown and covered with tiny hauhke scales.

The sori are very small and are borne on the lobes of
the pinnules wliosc tips roll over them in little pocket-
like indusia. These are always i;reen and have fanU
likeness to the indusia of other ferns. In old fronds li»e
ci)nfluent sori push out from the indusia and cover a
lar-je part of the pinnules. In the Key to the Genera,
a fruiting pinnule of this species is shown.

Ckciliinthcs vestita is found southward to Georijia and
Texas, and westward to Kansas. It is probably not an
abundant species in any locality but where there are ex-
posed cliffs of igneous rock there is always the possibility
of finding it. The name of hairy lip-fern, by which this
species is frequently mentioned in the books, is rarely
used in speaking of it. Recently the specific name lanosa
has been given this species. Both names have reference
to the hairy fronds, and all that has been gained by the
change is the addition of another scientific name to per-
plex the beginner and the satisfying of certain demands
fur priority. Our illustration is from specimens col-
lected by the author at Milburn, N. J.

Cheilanthes Tomentosa,

It is usually difficult for the young collector to identify
the species of Clwilanthcs. Some will consider them
fully as difficult as the wood ferns. Cheilanthes tomeittosa,
however, is one that need not be mistaken. It has a
general resemblance to C. vestita, but is taller, woollier

:.' ■ !

240 CHEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR

and til ICC times pinnate. It is also of more southern
distribution, extending to Mexico and the
West Indies and barely reaching Virginia and
Missouri on tiie north. Like most of its rela-
tives it loves dry and exposed situations and is
often tound in places where it does not receive
a drop of water for weeks or even months.
'^%^i^^ ^ '''■' ^'°"^^ »■■« rather long and narrow, and

^'"Jl green in colour. The primary and second-
ary pinna; vary from ovate to lanceolate and
are usually broadest at base. The ultimate
pinnules arc very small and roundish in out-
line like little yreen beads. The terminal seg-
ments are about twice as large as the others.
The stipe is chestnut-brown but the colour is
liidden under the dense coat of hairs. The
sori arc marginal and arranged in such a way
as to appear to form a continuous line on the
edges of each pinnule. In youth the edges are
flattened over them in a pale green indusium,
but later they push from under it and may be
seen dividing the margin from the tuft of to-
mentum in the centre of each pinnule. From
its coat of tomentum, this species is some-
times called, in the books, the woolly lip-fern.

Cheilanthes Lanuginosa,

This species is likely to impress the observer
as possibly a diminutive hybrid between C.
,k,uuutk,s.o,n,nio.a. ^'"''''^ *"^ ^- fonu'itosa. Thc Cutting of the
fronds is similar to that of vcstita while the
woolly covering of the uiulcr surface is like that of to-

CHEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR.

241

mentosa. It is easily our smallest Chcilanthcs. Ordi-
nary specimens are but two inches high, while the tallest
do not reach a length of more than six inches. The
fronds form dense tangled mats and the
rootstocks are so interwoven that it is usu-
ally impossible to separate single plants
without injuring them.

The blade is about ovate-lanceolate in
outline and is twice pinnate with pinnatifid
pinnules, or even three times pinnate. It is
further distinguished by bearing the lowest
pair of pinniE at some distance from the
others. All the pinnules are so crowded
that the frond appears to be less divided
than it really is. The sori and indusia
are similar to those C. vcstita. In old
fronds the wool on the under surface is deep,
dark brown 1 quite conspicuous. A
fruiting pinna will be found in the initial il-
lustration for this chapter.

Cheilanthes lanuginosa grows on exposed ledges from
Texas and Arizona to Illinois, Minnesota and British
Columbia. In part of its range, at least, the species is
evergreen. This plant has had its full share of change
at the hands of the nomenclaturist. It was long known as
C. lanuginosa. Later the name of gracilis was decided
to be the older and was accordingly adopted. Still
more recently it has been renamed C Feci in deference
to the rule of priority, this last name having been
discovered to be still older. Whether this is the final
change remains to be seen.

CheiUulltii litHuaiiiJ^a.

242

CHtlLANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR.

Cheilantbes Alabamefisis,

I'roin all the sjjccies of Cheilaiithcs \vitliin our limits,
this species may be distinguished by its smooth blades.
The froiuis grow to be a foot or more long and are borne
on slender, wiry, black stipes. Tiiey are lanceolate in
outline and about twice pinnate with numerous ovate-
lanceolati-. short-stalked pinn.u. The pinnules are oblong,
broadest at base, often with an ear-
like process on the outer edge, and
variously toothed. The indi'sium is
pale, membranous and more or less
interrupted by the toothing of the
fronds. The species grows on rocks
from Illinois and Virginia to Ala-
bama and Arizona.

Cheilanthcs is named from the Greek
and may be translated as lip-fern. Its
application is due to the lip-like indusia
of some species. There are fifty or more
members of the genus in the warmer parts
of the world.

The Maidenhair Fern,

The maidenhair fern {Adiantum peda-
tinii) is one of the few species with which
those who make no pretense to botanical
knowledge arc usually acquainted. Be-
cause of its delicate beauty it is much
sought i)y those who delight in woodland rambles, while
its peculiar shape and manner of growth, so unlike that of

i'fuiltiuthi-s
. I iafuimitHsis.

CHEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR.

243

YOL'XO KRONDS.

Other ferns, prevent its being easily for-

i;otten. There is perhaps, no other fern

family so sharply distinguished as the

one to which the maidenhair belongs.

The botanist recognises its members at a

glance without looking at the fruit, so

cliaracteristic is the cutting of the fronds

Of late years the exotic species have come

into great favour for decorations and no

florist considers his stock complete with-

out them. Since he is accustomed to call

them by the generic name, the word Adu

antnm is beginning to have more meaning to the general

public than most generic fern names.

Soon after vegetation starts in spring, the slender
crosiers of the maidenhair begin to appear on moist
shaded slopes and in low woods. Before they push
up, they aie protected by many brown, hairlike scales
and when uncoiling usually have a few scattered, light-
coloured ones along the stipe. At first the stipes are
covered with a bluish bloom and the immature pinnae are
of a dull red colour, imparting a not very pleasing lurid
hue to the underwoods At maturity stipe and rachis
are smooth, dark and shiring — among the handsomest of
their kind.

At the summit the stipe divides into two parts; each
of which makes a sort of half circle away from the other
and nearly at right angles to the direction of the stipe.
The pinnasgrow from the upper or outer sides of what
may thus be called the two rachids. The pair nearest the
forks are the largest, often a foot long and two inches
wide, and the others gradually decrease in size making
the outline of the whole frond nearly circular. The

244

CHEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR.

pinna: are broadest about the middle and are again pin-
nate, with a large number of alternating, slender-stalked,
lobcd or toothctl pinnules, which are peculiar for being
/If one sided, the *' midrib " running along

'^^ f: 1 the lower margin. These pinnules af-

A-

■pr---'1. ^"'''^ e.xcellent examples of thecharac-
' ^ ^> ttiistic veining of the fern tribe.

j,>X^ and branches freely, giving
off numerous black, wiry
r^ots. Fresh fronds are

^^mA .> <^^^ the

fyj, The rootstock is found just at the

/ /.^v surface of the earth. It is

/>- .~v-v~- slender, widely creeping

C--"''*liiA'^Wt:,^>^'^^^^ produced all summer and
„i3rit^>J^ ' I'^S'^ the little colonies of the plants
♦i^^'^';^-^n;V7 •i.^-v,^'^'''" I'glit. open clumps. Where

blade joins the stipe, there is
sharp bend which causes the
frond to hang downward until ex-
panded. Nearly every frond is
fertile. The sori are scattered
along the outer margins and are
covered with a rather conspicuous
gray indusium formed by the
reflexcd and altered segments of the pinnules.

It is said that this species and Cystopteris btilbifera
were the first American ferns to be taken to England.
I'ntil the time of Linnaeus it was known as Adiantuvi
Canadcnsc. The present specific name is said to be de-
rived from the branching rootstock, but another denva-
tion is given in an old English book which speaks of our
j)lant as the " foot-shaped Canadian maiden hair."
Some of the pinnules are certainly not very unlike the

MAIDENHAIR FERN.
A it ill Htu III feiiulu m.

CHEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR.

-45

human foot in outline. The name of maidenhair was
originally applied to Adiantum Capillus- Veneris ^nd is
said to be in allusion to the slender black stalks Some
however, would derive the name from the colour and

appearance of the roots. . v « •

Our plant has some repute as a pectoral and Kalm is
authority for the statement that the Indians o eastern
America commonly used it in all cases of difficult breath-
ing The fronds have also been much used as an ingredi-
ent in "Syrup of Capillare," for compounding which the
following recipe is given.

Maidenhair Leaves, 5 oz.
Liquorice root, peeled, 2
Boiling water, 5 P'"^^.

Let stand six hours and then add

Loaf sugar, 1 3 '^s-

Orange water, • ?•"*•

The maidenhair is found from Canada to the northern
portions of the Gulf States and as far west as Arkansas.
It is also found in Utah, California
and northward near the coast to
Alaska, and again appears in eastern
Asia. In British Columbia a form is
found with deeply cleft, longer stalked
and more erect pinnules. It is not
very well known and further study
may result in its being made a separate species. At
present it is called the variety rangifertnum. Our plant
takes readily to cultivation and may be propagated with-
out any difficulty. If the branches of the rootstock are
separated and planted by themselves, they will soon form
strong clumps.

a:fruiting pinnule.

V t

2Afi

}

CHEILANTHES AND MAlOfi.NHAIR.

T/)e Fenus-hair Fern,

Tlic Vcnus-liair fern {Aiiiantum Capillns-Vcneris) encir-
cles the world in the Tropics and in both Hemispheres
spreads toward the Poles as far as it finds suitable dwell-
ing places. In the Old World it extends to Great
Hritain and in North America to Virginia, Kentucky, Mis-
souri, Utah and California. It de-
lights in moist and sheltered situa-
tions and in the northern parts of its
range should be looked for in ra-
vines.

It may be distinguished from the
common maidenhair by its dark,
wiry undivided rachis and fan-
shaped, drooping pinnules on ex-
ccetlingly slender black stalks. The
rachis gives off alternate branches
and the pinnules are also arranged
alternately. The blade is usually
twice pinnate below and simply pin-
nate above and the pinnules are not
one sided as in many species of Adi-
antum. Their outer edges are
rounded, rather deeply notched and
serrate. There is great variation
in the form of both pinnules and
fronds. When the pinnules die, they
drop from the rachis which remains erect for some time
longer. Nearly every frond is fertile. The sori scarcely
differ from \.\\o^c oi A. paUitum. Specimens have been
reported in which the spores gave rise to young plants
while still on the frond.

VKNIS-HAIR KKRV.
A liitt Htum Capillus- \ 'tHfris,

CHBlLANTHtS AND MAIDENHAIR.

>47

All sorts of medicinal virtues were once ascribed to
tins plant, but at present, little or no use is made of it.
It is slightly astringent and is the species originally used
in making " Syrui) of Capillare."

In 189S a large colony of this fern was found along
a stream fed by hot springs, in the Black Hills of South
Dakota. Its occurrence in this place, at so great a dis-
tance beyond its ordinary limits, is no doubt to be ex-
plained by the fact that the warmth of the water modifies
the temperature of the region in winter rendering it
similar to that which prevails in the stations further
south. The species has also been reported from New
York and Pennsylvania, but the evidence is hardly con-
vincing.

The name Adiantum is from two Greek words mean-
ing without wet, and has reference to the fact that the
fronds of most of the species are so smooth that water
runs off without wetting them. There are about seventy-
five species, mostly in the American Tropics. Some of
these are among the handsomest of ferns, and no species
in the genus is unattractive.

THE SENSITIVE AND OSTRICH FERNS.

I i

And there the full broad river runs,

And many a fount wells fresh and sweet,

To cool thee when the mid-day suns
Have made thee faint beneath their heat."— Br van r.

THE SENSITIVE AND OSTRICH FERNS.

I DTANISTS have always been
divided in opinion as to
whether the ostrich and sen-
sitive ferns should be con-
sidered members of the same
family. They have an un-
mistakable likeness and must
be considered as cousins if not
of nearer kinship. The princi-
pal differences are that one has
a running rootstock, scattered
fronds and anastomosing veins,
while the other has an upright rootstock, fronds in
crowns and free veins. Tlic first is the type of Onoclca,
the second of Strutliioptcris. Onoclca is named from two
Greek words meaning a vessel and to close, in allusion
to the berry-like, fruiting pinnules. Strutliioptcris is
also from the Greek and may be literally translated as
ostrich fern. As modern botanists view them, there is
but a single species of Onoclea in the world, and but two
of Strutliioptcris.

The Sensitive Fern,

The sensitive fern {Onoclca scnsihilis) is one of our
most abundant species. Wherever the soil is moist, in
woodland, thicket and the open field, it is likely to occur,

=54

THE SENSITIVE AND OSTRICH FERNS.

while it forms a more or less continuous border to all our
streams antl ponds. Very few of those who pass it or
wade throu<;h it have any idea that it is a fern, for its
broad coarse fronds are far from the common conception
of fern le.ivcs.

The rootstock is as thick as a pencil and creeps just at
the surface of the earth, freijuently branching;. In addi-
tion to the fronds, it produces, here and there, append-
ai^es exactly like tiie bases of tlie stipes but which end in
a \nn\n and never become more than two or three inches
ioii^. The fronds are produced all summer but the
youn^ crosiers are most noticeable early in the year when
they push up in such numbers in all low grounds as to
make their tawny pink hue the prevailing one for some
liavs. Seen in tlic mass, the young fronds can scarcely be
calletl beautiful, but a single one taken just as the pin-
nules arc unrolling and viewed from base to apex in the
plane of the blade will show such a succession of scrolls
anil arches as to suggest a miniature of the interior
of some old cathedral.

When the sterile fronds are fully spread they are, to
most eyes, coarse and ugly. They are ovate in outline,
pinnate below and pinnatifid toward the apex. The
pinnules are linear-lanceolate, the upper nearly entire,
the lower sinuate-toothed or lobed. The fronds are
borne on long stipes and often reach a height of more
than two feet. About midsummer the fertile fronds ap-
pear. They arc shorter than the sterile, bipinnate, and the
pinnules resemble rows of little green berries strung along
the midribs. Many suppose each berry to be a sort of
sporecasc like tiiose of the rattlesnake fern, but it is
easy to see that they are simjjly closely rolled pinnules
enclosing the sori. Kach sorus has an indusium but it

SF.NSlTIVt FElRN. C: ,u/,;i stUiiMis,
Youiijf Fronds.

- •■It

■ -i

■ 1

; I

THE SbNSITIVt AND OSTRICH FERNS.

25S

is so very fugacious tluit il is scldoin seen by any save the
inquisitive scientist. It is liood-shapcd, somewhat like
that of Cysio/'tcris, and attached to the frond on the
inferior side of the '* blackberry-like " sorus. It can be
found only in the youngest fronds. Part of a fertile
frond is shown in the Key.

At the approach of cold weather, the sterile fronds
wither but the fertile remain erect all winter. The latter
are most noticeable against a background of snow-clad
earth, but would never be taken for a fern by the ordi-
nary rambler. The berries remain tightly closed through
the winter and the sporecascs commonly do not release
their spores until spring. Even then the fronds do not
fall. It is easy to find plants with fertile fronds of three
seasons still in place. The spores promptly germinate in
spring.

The origin of the common name is involved in some
obscurity, and several ingenious theories have been ad-
vanced to account for it. One suggests that it has refer-
ence to the fact that the frond withers so soon after being
cut ; another that it is because the fronds are sensitive to
autumn frosts. Eaton says that the young fronds are oc-
casionally cut down by late spring frosts, but this is not a
common occurrence. There is still another theory which
accounts for the name by the assumption that the grow-
ing fronds wither if touched by the human hand, but
withstand the touch of other bodies. The German
botanist, Sprcngel, is quoted as having proved this by
numerous experiments, and in Britten's " European
Ferns " we read that " the barren fronds arc so thin and
delicate in texture that they will wither, even when grow-
ing, if drawn once or twice through the hand." Those
w ho are acquainted with our plant, will no doubt wonder

356

TUli SliNiJlTIVli AND OSTRICH FbRNS.

DHuiilobaUi

wliLTc tliis author obtained his specimens. In the fourth
edition of Amos lialon's botany published in 1834, the
author says: " Tiie leaflets slowly ap-
proach cacli other on squeezing the stenj
in the hand." Many observers will testify
that they cannot be made to do so in these
%(.#^^;^_ degenerate days. The species is some-
^ r .ftir^ limes called oak fern or oak-leaved fern.
In some ancient botanical works it is
mentioned as " dragon's bridges," though
for what reason, no one seems to know,
Tiie sensitive fern is abundant in nearly
fi*il* '''* ^''^ territory from Canada to the (iulf

^5^ of Mexico and west to tlie Mississippi.

Scatteretl colonics occur as far west as
Wyoming, and the same species is again noticed in
Japan. In Montana, this species, or one exceed-
ingly like it, has been found as a fossil.

Growing with normal fronds, there is often
found a form h.df-w.iy between fertile and sterile.
It was once considered to be a permanent type
and given the varietal name of ohttisilolhita, but it
is now known to be due merely to the destruction
of the early sterile fronds. It usually contains
less leaf surf.ice than the ordinary sterile frond
and in cutting resembles the twice pinnate fertile
one. Commonly it bears a few abortive sori, all
of which sliow it to be a partially transformed
fertile frond. Prof. Geo. V. Atkinson, who made
cxtrnsive experiments with this j)Iant, found
tliat he was able to produce the variety at w ill, by
simply cutting off the early sterile fronds.

SENSITIVE FERN. OnocUa sensibilis.
Fertile and Sterile Fronds.

f '

.: >
■

> ':

TUB SENSITIVE AND OSTRICH FERNS.

*57

The Ostrich Fern,

The ostrich fern {Strut/iioptcris (Jermaiiica) is the tallest
uf eastern American ferns and by many regarded as the
liandsomest. It is at its best in the wet, sandy soil of a
half-shaded island or river shore and in such situations
puts up magnificent crowns of fronds that often reach a
length of seven feet. In the northern United States,
there are many jungle-like thickets of this species in
which a man of ordinary height may stand and be com-
pletely hidden.

The rootstock is thick and erect, usually projecting
slightly above the surface. During winter the crosiers
are covered with an abundance of coarse brown scales,
but when they begin to grow these are soon thrown
ofT. They develop very rapidly, often lengthening six
inches in a day. The fronds rise in circular crowns and
spread gracefully outward in shuttlecock fashion after
the manner of the cinnamon fern, which this species, in
general appearance, greatly resembles. They are ob-
lanceolate, broadest toward the apex and gradually re-
duced downward to the short stipes. They arc pinnate
with very many pairs of long narrow pinna; which are
again cut nearly to the midrib into close, short, slightly
falcate, acute or obtuse lobes. The lowest pinna; are
often less than an inch long, while the longest often
exceed eight inches.

The early fronds are always sterile. About July the
fertile fronds come up in their midst. They are quite
short, stiff and simply pinnate, and look so much like
stunted sterile fronds as frequently to deceive the am-
ateur cultivator. The fruiting pinna; are necklace-like

ajS

ilU: blNSinVI; AND USiUK.II I liRNS.

in shiipo, and upon cx.imin;iti(>n prove t«> be nuich like
the sterile pinn.e, except that e.icli ed^'e is tiijhtly rolled
over to the iniilrii), forming two p.irallel chambers in
which the sori arc encloseil. Cut across the end, a pinna
reminds one of two tiny jjun-barrels and the likeness
is heifjhtcned by the black, powdery spores that sift out.
The books are cither silent in regard to the indusium,
or assert that this species has none, but according to
Raton there is a scale-like indusium at the base of each
>orus. This is only to be seen in very young fronds
and resembles that of Onocha. Fronds intermediate be-
tween fertile and sterile are occasionally found, and
may be produced artificially by cutting off the sterile
fronds early in the year. The sterile fronds die in au-
tumn but the fertile, like those of the sensitive fern,
survive the winter, although to all appearances dea»l.
The spores are not releascil until spring, when they
readily germinate. Since they contain chlorophyll they
arc not able to retain their vitality for much longer than
a year.

When the ostrich fern gains a foothold in a locality, it
spreads rapidly by means of stolons. These are de-
velopcd from adventitious buds on the rootstock at the
bases of the olil fronds. Large numbers of them remain
dormant but a few usually develop into slender runners
that wander ailiout in the earth and finally throw up a
new crown of fronds from the tip at some distance from
the parent plant.

The common name is due to an imagined likeness of
the fronds to an ostrich feather. It is sometimes known
as ostrich-feather fern. In Europe it has been called
two-ranked fern because its fertile fronds have two rows
of fruiting pinnules. The name of shuttlecock fern is

J,[!i' '(■-

^:k Jl''<r'

In the wet, sandy suil uf a half-iihiided UUnd."

MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART

(ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No 2)

A APPLIED I N/HGE

'6b3 East Mam SUe^r

Rochester, Ne« Vork 14609 USA

('16) 482 - 0300- Phone

(716) 288 - 5989 - Fo«

THE SENSITIVE AND OSTRICH FERNS.

259

most appropriate, but is seldom heard. A section of the
fertile frond is shown in the Key.

The ostrich fern is a lover of the North. In America
its southern limit is the state of Virginia. From thence
it ranges to Alaska becoming common in most of the
northern states. In Europe it frequently grows within
the Arctic Circle. It may occasionally be found in
swamps, but is most likely to grow along the larger
streams or on the borders of lakes and ponds. It is highly
valued for decorative planting out of doors. In some of
the northern cities, venders go about the streets in spring
with wagon lopds of it, which they are ablg to dispose of
at good prices.

In the general mutation of fern names this species has
not escaped. If placed with Onoclea, as it frequently
has been, it would be O. Strut hiopieris. Recent
writers incline to place it in still another genus as ATat-
teuccia Struthiopteris. The American plant differs
slightly from that of Europe, having taller fronds and
longer stipes, and is frequently called the variety Penn-
syhanka, especially in the Old World. If the name
Matteuccia should ultimately prevail, it is not unlikely
that our plant may yet be known as Matteuccia Struthi-
opteris Pennsylvanica. The genus has been known as
Struthiopteris for so long, however, that it will probably
remain unchanged.

■■

■i

OSTRICH FERN. Struthiopterts Germaniia,
Fertile and Sterile Fronds.

THE WALKING FERN AND THE
HART'S-TONGUE.

; 1 '

" The thick and rich-looking yet leathery texture of the fronds of
the Hart's-tongue, with their deep and shining green colour, make
them look exquisitely cool a.-d refreshing, rising up out of the dark
hedge-bank as they do, in thick and clustering tufts— sometimes
almost erect, at other times gracefully bending b.ickward their shm-

ing leathery tips You will find it growing aln.ost everywhere m

Devonshire : on the tops and at the sides of walls ; hanging from old
ruins : growing out from the sides of cliffs and deserted quarries ; and
dropping down its long green fronds into the cool and limpid water of
roadside wells hewn out of the rock.'— Francis.

1 1

THE WALKING FERN AND HARTS-
TONGUE.

NE of the good points about
the study of ferns is that the
subject can never be quite
exhausted. There is always
s o ni e t h i n ij more to be
learned or a species yet un-
discovered in the locality to
search for. Some plants
have the faculty of eluding
one for years and then
appearing in some out-of-the-way nook, while others
must be made the objects of special expeditions if one
would obtain them. In the latter category may be
placed the two plants to be discussed in this chapter.
In addition to being uncommon or rare, their peculiar
forms make them easily overlooked unless the collector
has once seen them growing.

The Walking Fern,

The very name of the walking fern {Camptosortis rhis-
ophyllns) sounds sufficiently attractive to arouse interest
in those who ordinarily are not fern collectors. Com-
paratively few, however, have seen it growing and the
majority arc inclined to hold curious ideas regarding it.
One collector told the writer that he fully expected to

206 THE WALKING FHRN AND HART'S-TONOUR.

sec the plant moving about, when he went to collect it
for the first time.

The odd little fronds, spreading about in circular tufts
from a small black rootstock, and seldom rising far above
the surface of the mossy rock, present a picture that
will linger long in the memory. At base the fronds
are heartshaped or eared, and above taper to a long
slender tip. Sometimes they may reach a length of four-
teen inches, though they perhaps never appear as long to
the eye as they really arc, owing to its failure to make
proper allowance for the prolonged apex. The sporan-
gia are borne in oblong or linear sori, mostly on the brord
basal portion of the frond. Some of these are parallel
to the midrib and others oblique to it. Those near the
midrib are usually single but the outer ones are likely to
be double or to connect with others at the ends, forming
curious patterns, apparently without order, but which
upon examination are found to follow the veins. The
early fronds are short, blunt-ended and usually do not bear
sori, being devoted to purely vegetative functions.

The most interesting characteristic of this species is
found in the way in which its fronds arch over until they
touch the earth where they root and form new plants.
Some of our other ferns occasionally produce plants in
this way, but in this species it is a settled habit. The new
plants grow up, repeating the process of walking and soon
the original plant is surrounded by quite a colony of its
offspring produced without the intervention of spores.
The connections between them are slow to die, and it is
not unusual to find three or four generations linked to-
gether. Occasionally, also, the basal lobes are elongated
like the tips and may produce plants in the same way.
The walking fern ranges from the far north to Georgia

-'6,-j

*K»»„^^I^ •#*" jjff

it carpets the f;ue of tile ijray rock wiui n.-. ii.,.^iiacin;4 ironds.'

tl\ !;

)* ;

::ll

1 i

• -

: I

THE WALKING FERN AND HART'S-TONGUE. 267

and Kansas. It was once regarded as being
closely restricted to limestone rocks, and,
indeed, shows a preference for them, growing
where the soil is soft and thin and its roots
can come in contact with the stone ; but it is
now known to grow also upon sandstone,
sliale, gneiss, quartzite and granite. The
books unite in calling it a rare species but
this is due more to its local distribu-
tion than to any lack of the plants
themselves. It certainly is not rare
with the rareness of the hart's-tongue
or Aspleniiim ebenoidcs or even the lit-
tle curly grass. On the dryish ledges
of shaded cliffs it frequently spreads a
carpet of its interlacing fronds that
may be pulled off in large sheets. Its
fondness for horizontal shelves and the
tops of rocks is especially noticeable.
Miss S. F. Price notes in the Fern Bul-
letin that in parts of Kentucky the
plant is called wall link.

The leathery, dark green and glossy
fronds endure the winter unharmed and
last for some time the following year.
There is some belief that they may occa-
sionally last through two winters. On ac-
count of its interesting features, it is a
desirable plant for the fern garden. It
will grow and thrive in any garden soil if
given deep shade, but it does much better
in the chinks of a rockery made of lime-
stone or other calcareous material.

A FRUITING
FROND.

•li

■! ■
■A I

■i ,

a68 THE WALKING FERN AND HART-S-TONGUE.

A form called intermedia has been described from Iowa.
In this the fronds arc without cars at base and taper to
the stipes, in which characteristic they resemble the Old
World species, C. Sibericiis. This latter inhabits northern
Asia and Japan and is the only other species in the genus.
The word Camptosorus is derived from two Greek words
meaning bent and fruit-dot and refers to the lines of
crooked sori.

The Hart* s-Tongue.

There can be no difference of opinion as to which is
the rarest fern in Northeastern America. This distinc-
tion is well known to belong to the hart's-tongue {Seolopcn-
driiiin viilgare). So far as known, two limited regions in
the United States and two in Canada are the only ones in
the Western Hemisphere in which it grows. On the
other side of the world, however, it is abundant and
Shirley Ilibberd includes it among the four commonest
species about London.

It was first discovered in America near Syracuse, N. Y.,
by Frederick Pursh who writes that he found it " In shady
woods in the western part of New York, on the planta-
tion of J. Geddes, Esq." It was afterward found in
greater abundance at Chittenango Falls and this place
is frequently named as the original station, but the re-
cent rediscovery of Pursh's station for it has set the
question at rest. At Chittenango Falls, the plants are
plentiful, growing on the talus at the base of a limestone
cliff, where the atmosphere is constantly moist from the
spray of a nearby waterfall.

The fronds spread outward in a circular tuft and are
about half erect. They are dark, glossy green above,
somewhat lighter beneath, and very thick and leathery.

THE WALKING FERN AND HART'S-TONGUE. 269

The stipes are short and the entire frond
seldom reaches a length of more than
twenty inches or a width of two inches.
It is narrowest at the eared and heart-
shaped base and gradually widens to be-
yond the middle, and then tapers to the
acute apex. The margins are entire but
with such an abundance of tissue that
they present a ruffled appearance in the
living frond. Much of this appearance is
lost when it is pressed for the herbarium.
The spores are not ripe until Sep-
tember. They are borne towards the
apical half of the frond in long lines tl'l
reaching nearly from midvein to margin. '■
Occasionally the sori reach quite to the
margin and over on the upper side.
They are in pairs, one on each side of the
vein and opening toward it. The fruit is
very abundant and the fertile fronds are
noticeably heavier than sterile ones.

This species is noted for the frequency
with which it produces forked fronds. It
is as if it has exerted its utmost to be
fine and delicate like the rest. At Chit-
tenango Fall= we found plenty of such
fronds without searching, for them. One
was forked seven times. The fronds also
occasionally root at the tip and Lowe
mentions a plant found wild in Ireland
which had the upper surface scattered
over with young plants.

The hart's-tongue has several common

t^lt

^ 3|

W- I

HARTS-TONGUE.
St-'oloptndrinm vulgare.

" !

y i

I if

5 ■ ■

270 THE WALKING FERN AND HART'S-TONGUE.

names, llound's-tongue and seaweed fern have reference
to the shape of the fronds, while caterpillar fern and but-
tonholes are doubtless in allusion to the appearance of
the sori. When the sporangia are just pushing aside the
white indusia their likeness to buttonholes is not difificult
to imagine. The plant once had some repute as a
remedy for burns and eruptions of the skin and was
called burnt-weed. Britten says it is known as Christ's
hair in the Isle of Guernsey in allusion to the black vas-
cular bundles in the stipe. The plant is mucilaginous to
the taste and in France it is said to be infused with milk
for the sake of the slight but pleasant flavour v/hich it
imparts to it.

The hart's-tongue has been reported from several
stations in the vicinity of Syracuse, N. Y., and from one
locality in Tennessee. It is also found in New Brunswick
and at Owen's Sound in Canada. In the latter locality
it is said to be fairly abundant. In the Old World it is
found in Europe, the Azores, Japan, etc. The plant
is easily cultivated and forms fine clumps which afford a
pleasing contrast to the divided foliage of other ferns.
Single plants have been known to have as many as thirty
fronds at one time. Under cultivation it produces
numerous varieties. Nearly a hundred are known.
According to Moore, the fleshy bases of the stipes per-
sist for some time after the fronds have perished. If
these are cut apart retaining a part of the "rind of the
caudex " on each, and planted like root-cuttings, they
will soon bud from the cut edges and form new plants.
Our illustration, was made from specimens collected at
Chittenango Falls by the author.

Scolopendrium is from the Greek for centipede, in
allusion to the parallel lines of sporangia, which suggest

; !

! I

? i 3

I ■

..I

THE WALKING FERN AND HART'S-TONGUE. 27«

the legs of that animal. There arc about half a dozen
species. The scientific name of our plant has been
frequently changed. It was long known as Scolopen-
drium vulgarc or 5. officinarum; later it was called S.
Scolopi-ndrium, and still later Phyllitis Scolopcndrium.
Those who are interested in the plant rather than its
name will prefer to call it by its best known title, as
we have done, until the makers of nomenclature decide
upon a name that shall not be changed.

':'\U

THE CURLY GRASS AND THE
CLIMBING FERN.

! -■■

" Here are old trees, tall oaks and gnarled pines.
That stream with gray-green mosses : here the ground
Was never trenched by spade, and flowers spring up
Unsown and die ungathered. It is sweet
To linger here among the flitting birds.
And leaping squirrels, wandering brooks and winds
That shake the leaves, and scatter, as they pass
A fragrance from the cedars, thickly set
With pale blue berries."— Bryant.

THE CURLY GRASS AND THE
CLIMBING FERN.

EOl'LE who arc not fern students can
usually distinguish between ferns
and flowering plants although they do
sometimes include the feathery leaves of
certain flowering plants, like yarrow,
among the former. In the case of the
two species here mentioned, however, it
>. .id not be surprising if they did not
r .ognisc them as ferns. There is very
little that :.s fern-like in their forms, and
scientists, drawing a nice distinction
from the structure of their sporangia,
place them in a separate family known as
the Schizieace.e.

The Curly Grass.

To see the curly grass {Schizica pusilld) in its
haunts, one must visit the southern part of New Jersey
where it is fairly common on the border of many sandy
cranberry bogs. For a long time this small state con-
Gained all the known stations for the plant, and it is still
the only section in which it is plentiful.

Although never found far from the sca-coast, this is a

■, t

Ml
Mi

-VS THE CURLY GRASS AND THE CLIMBING FERN.

plant of the frcsli water swamps and bogs. When full
L^rown it seldom attains a height of six inches and the
slender fronds present so little surface for the eye to
rest upon that it is one of the most difficult of our ferns
to distinguish from its surroundings. It is only in mid-
summer or later, when the spikes show a glint of brown,
or in a mild winter when the absence of vegetation
renders the sterile fronds conspicuous, that one can
search for the plant with much hope of finding it. Even
tiien one must often get down on hands and knees to
see it.

The sterile fronds are an inch or more long and scarcely
wider than pencil marks. They arc twisted or half coiled
in loose open spirals and spread about as if trying to lay
hold upon the vegetation near. In July the" fertile
fronds push up on thread-like stems. They are quite as
inconspicuous and have no greater likeness to fern leaves
than have the sterile ones. At the top of the stipe are
four or more pairs of finger-like pinn.-c enclosing the
sporangia. The lowest pair are longest and all are set
closely together in a little brown spike that resembles
a tiny fist. The fruiting fronds remain on the plant
during the winter and occasionally until the middle of
the followiiig year. Possibly they do not release their
spores until spring.

Sometime after the curly grass was discovered in New
Jersey, a few plants were found in Nova Scotia by Mrs.
E. G. ]5ritton and still later, in 1896, specimens were col-
lected in Newfoundland by Rev. Arthur Waghorne.
This is not the first record for Newfoundland, however.
In the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, are specimens col-
lected long ago by De la Pylaie and labelled Newfound-
land, but until the fern was rediscovered there, they were

Si ///:u'(i puiilUi,

11*! i|

: S)

THE CURLY GRASS AND THE CLIMBING FERN. 279

believed to have come from New Jersey and to have
been wrongly labelled.

In parts of New Jersey, this plant may be said to be
fairly common, and new stations for it are frequently
discovered. It delights to grow in wet open plac-^ in
the midst of sphagnum and cranberry vines, with Lyco-
podiuvi Caroliniaiium, L. alopccitroidcs and the sundews
for companions. Usually there are cedar swamps in the
vicinity. When all these plants are present, one may
have great hope of finding the fern. New stations for it
have been predicted from a distance by means of its com-
panion plants, and the prediction subsequently verified
I ; the finding of specimens. New stations, however, are
.iiost frequently found by accident. The one at Tom's
River is said to have been discovered by a botanist who,
in placing his open press on the ground to put in some
plants, found Schizcea peeping up between the sides.

Besides the name of curly grass giver, it from the form
of the sterile fronds, it is sometimes called one-sided fern
because the fertile pinnae appear to be all on one side of
the rachis. Lawson, in his " Fern Flora of Canada,"
gives it the fanciful name of Atlantis fern, but this, like
most manufactured names, has not come into general
use.

At present, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia arc the
only places outside of New Jersey in which this fern is
known to grow, if indeed, it is now found in Nova Scotia
at all. The station, which was a small one, is sr>"d to
have been dostioyed by fire. In the vast stretches of
country between Newfoundland and New Jersey there are
bogs with many variations of soil and temperature,
some of which should be suitable to its growth, and it is
not unlikely that our plant may yet be found at other

» !

• \

;ii

2S0

Tllli CURLY GRASS AND THli CLIMBING FERN.

points. It would scarcely surprise botanists to hear that
it had been found on Long Island where there are many-
spots that exactly duplicate its favourite New Jersey
bo<js.

The name of the genus is from the Greek, meaning to
split. It seems unmeaning enough, applied to our
species, but tiie fact that foreign members of the group
have fronds that appear as if divided to the midrib with
some sharp instrument makes the name very appropriate.
There are fifteen species in varmer climes. Our species
has the distinction of growing nearc" to the Pole than
any other member of the family. Our illustration is
made from a specimen collected by the author at Forked
River, N. J.

The C/imbmg Fern,

The slender twining f:onds of the climbing fern
{I.ygoiiinm palmatum) may seem an anomaly among ferns
to American collectors, but in warmer regions climbing
ferns are common and are found in several differen^t
families. The family to which our plant belongs, how-
ever, is the true climbing fern family, for all of its twenty,
five or more species are climbing. Indeed, the generic
name means flexible and alludes to the scandcnt stems.
One species in the West Indies sometimes reaches a
lengtli of tliirty or forty feet, having perhaps the longest
frond of any living fern.

'I lie fronds of our species seldom exceed a length of
three feet. They are scattered on a slender, cordlike
rootstock that creeps along just beneath the surface of
the earth. The stipe is dark, shining brown and con-
tinues through the frond as the racliis. A few inches
above the soil, it begins to give off short, alternate

CLIMB,,. J HERN. Lyi:;odii(iii pahiiatum.

!!•;

A FRL rriXG I'INNA.

THE CUKLY GRASS ANU THE CLIMBING FERN. 281

branches, each of which is forked with a pair of froiidlcls
at the end. These arc about semi-
circular in outline, and cut halfway or
more toward the base into from five to
seven ovate or oblong leaflets. The
basal ones arc eared on the lower side
making each frondlet somewhat heart-
shaped at base. In fertile fronds, the
frondlets toward the apex are suddenly
reduced to a panicle of many short nar-
row segments, but with a general re-
semblance in their form to the sterile
ones. On the underside of these segments, there is a
double row of alternating, scale-like indusia -ach covering
an egg-shaped sporecasc. After the spores are ripe, the
fertife portion dies, but the sterile frondlets remain
green through the winter and until the young crosiers
bcnn to develop in spring.

in autumn the fronds arc offered for sale for decorative
purposes in many of our southern and eastern cities, and
the great demand for it has nearly caused its extinction in
some sections. In Connecticut the legislature once
passed a law imposing a penalty upon any person who
should uproot or carry away from the land of another,
specimens of this fern. This is probably the only fern
thus distinguished.

This species is also called creeping fern, snake-tongue
fern, Hartford fern and Windsor fern, the last two
names referring to localities where it was once common.
It ranges from^ Massachusetts to Florida, mostly near the
coast, and has also been found in Kentucky and Ten-
nessee, but not in the intervening territory. It grows m
low thickets and on the bank« of streams, twining over

i !

1 I

"Hi

-"'J THH CURLY GIMbS AND THb CLIMBING FKRN.

wcctls and small bushes. Possibly it may be found at a
few more stations inland, but it is likely to remain rare in
such places. In cultivation it forms a most attractive
feature of the fernery, whether out of doors or in the
house.

BORDER SPECIES.

'il

BORDER SPECIES.

KSIUKS the truly representative spe-
cies of eastern America, there are
a few whose centre of distribution
is beyond our limits but \vl\ich
stray far enough over tlie borders
to make some mention of them
desirable.

The Rock Brake.

One of the most interesting of the border species is
the rock brake {Cryptoi^rainma acrostkhoidcs) whicli
inhabits the far Nortli. In the East it reaches to
Labrador and the country north of Lakes Huron and
Superior, but in the West it is found in Colorado and
California and extends from thence to the Arctic Circle.
It is an inhabitant of rocky places, growing in the chinks
between the stones, often in dense patches.

The plants are usually from six to eight inches high.
The stipes of the fertile fronds arc about twice as long
as those of the sterile, so that there are usually two
tiers of fronds. Both are ovate-oblong in shape, the
sterile rather thin and twice pinnate with ovate pinn.x-
and toothed or lobcd rounded pinnules, while the fertile
are three times pinnate, with long, narrow, podlikc pin-
nules, due to the edges being rolled back to the midrib.
The sporangia arc borne in roundish sori near the mar-
rrins which are slightly altered to form the indusium.

: I

V I

286

BOHUtK SPECIKS.

At maturity the pinnules partly unroll and become more
or less flattened. Specimens intergrading between fer-
tile and sterile fronds are sometimes f-aund.

There are but two species of Crj/'/o-
,i:ramiiui in the world. The second species
iniiabits the northern and elevated portions
of the Eastern Hemisphere. The two are very
much alike and our species was formerly con-
sidered a variety of the other. A few botanists
now incline to add the slender cliff brake to
this genus, which shows among other
things, that the lines dividing certain
genera are very slight indeed. The
generic name is in allusion to the way
in which the plant fruits. From the
appearance of the sterile fronds it is
frequently called the parsley fern.

Notholcena deaibata.

Our single representative of the genus
NotholiCita extends no further east than
Missouri and Kansas where it grows in
the clefts of calcareous rocks. South-
Mard it extends to Texas and Arizona.
Beyond its range, westward, there are up-
wards of a dozen species and of the thirty
or more that compose the genus, a large
majority are American. In ihc south-
RocK iiRAKE \\estern part of its range our plant meets

cryptogramma auothcr species, N. nivca, of which it was

once considered to be a variety.
The fronds seldom reach a length of six inches and

BORDER SPECIES.

287

grow in tufts from a small rootstock. They have dark,
shiiiiiiii stipes and rachids and are three or four times
pinnate. The blades are triangular ovate and the pinn.u
ovate and mostly stalked. The ultimate pinnules are
very small and covered beneath with a whitish
waxy povvdc-. This powder or farina is very
common in ihcr species tf this group and ap-
pears to scrv. .es a protection from too great an
evaporation ol moisture, since the species pos-
sessing it are all inhabitants of dry and sunny
places. The sporangia are without indusium
and are borne in lines near the margins of the
pinnules by which they are commonly half
enfolded when young. The generic name
NotJioUcna is derived from two words mean-
ing a spurious cloak. By some this is be-
lieved to refer to the rudimentary indusia;
by others to the woolly covering of the
original species. From the generic name is
derived the common name of cloak fern,
occasionally applied to this species. An
illustration of a fruited pinnule will be found
in the Key.

T'he Killarney Fern,

The group to which the Killarney
fern {Trichotnaiies radicaiis) belongs, dif-
fers from our common ferns in their
manner of fruiting as well as in a few
other matters, and botanists have there-
fore placed them in a separate order as killarney fern.

, ,, , . , . TrichemaHcs ratlicaut.

the Hymenophyllacea;, equal m rank to

388

BORDER SPECIES.

if ■

4 :

the polypody, osmunda, adder's-tonguc and climbing fern
families.

Our species is one of the most widely distributed of its
tribe. It is found in the Tropics of both Hemispheres
and in many parts of the Temperate Zones. In America
it grows from Kentucky to Florida, inhabiting wet rocks.
The rootstock is slender, curdlikc, covered with dark
hairlike scales and often creeps extensively. In the
warmer parts of the earth it ascends trees to heights of
several feet. There is considerable variation in the
fronds from different regions. In specimens from Ken-
tucky and Alabama the blades are long and narrow and
an inch or more wide at base, tapering upward to the
slender apex. They are pinnate, with ovate, deeply cut,
blunt pinnjvor arc often twice pinnate in the lower part.
The lobes of the pinnules arc fre-
quently toothed, especially at the
ends, and the rachis is green and nar-
rowly winged.

The sori arc borne on the lobes of
the ninnulcs, usually on the outer
basal lobe. The sporangia are clus-
tered around a slender bristle which
is a prolongation of a vein and are
surrounded by a vase-like, slightly two-lipped involucre.
In old fronds the bristles become long exscrted and quite
conspicuous and have obtained for the plant the name
of bristle fern. It is called Killarney fern from the fact
that it is found about the Lakes of Killarney.

AH the species belonging to the Hymenophyllacea.-
have very thin and delicate fronds and arc commonly
called filmy ferns. Frequently the blades consist of a
sindc layer of cells. Although so delicate, the fronds

A KRUITIXG riNNUI.E.

BORDbR SPliCIES.

289

Oi' our species last for several years, and commonly do
not fruit until more than a year old. Instead of i)roduc-
ing fres! sori yearly, the bristles simply elongate and bear
new crops of sporangia at their bases. In the northern
parts of its range tiie Killaniey fern is usually found
beneath overhanging ledges where there is unfailing
moisture. Our illustration is from specimens collected
at Havanna, Alabama, by Prof. Underwood.

Trichomanes Petersii,

This, the most diminutive of North Ame; 'can ferns, is
found only in a small area in northern Alabama where it
grows on the sides of dripping sandstone cliffs. It is
so small that a silver quarter of a dollar will cover a
whole colony. The rootstock is creeping, very small
and threadlike, and the fronds, on the slender-jst of stipes,
seldom grow to be three-quarters of an inch long. They
are about obovate with usually entire margins. The sori
are borne on the apex of the fronds and surrounded by
a slightly two-lipped involucre. The bristle-like re-
ceptacle is not exserted as in radicans. Our illustra-
tion is from specimens collected by Prof. Underwood.

There are nearly two hun-
dred species of filmy ferns
in the world about evenly
divided ' between the two
genera Trichomanes and
Hymenophyllum. They are
found mostly in tropical regions in sheltered situations
on wet rocks, the trunks of trees and on damp earth.
Only the first mentioned genus is represented with us

Trichomanes t\ttrsii.
Natural size.

\: i

1 ;!

990

BORDER SPECIES.

and the two species here described are the only ones in
North America north of Mexico. The genen' ,ime,
Trichomancs, was an old Greek name for some fi The

reason for its application to this family of the filmy ferns
is not apparent.

CONCERNING NOMENCLATURE.

■J.

•r >:

' Orcw a little fern leaf

iirccn an^ skntcr.
Ucinint) tclicatc an^

fibres tcnfcr;
XQarina wbcn tbc win^ crept ^own »o

low; . ,,

IRuebee tall, an? mo6». ant iiras* atcw rou.iS it.
playful sunbeams tartef in ant fount it,
Crops of tew stole in bv. niflbt ant crowt•.v^ ..

—M. B. Jiratuh.

; r ;i

CONCERNING NOMENCLATURE.

N the scheme of the vegetable kingdom,
ferns are accorded a place below the
flowering plants. With the Fern-Allies
the club-mosses, quillworts and scour-
ing rushes— they form the highest group
of the so-called flowerless plants. On
the one hand they are related to such
simple flowering plants as the pines,
palms, sedges and grasses, and on the
other to the mosses and liverworts.

Among themselves they differ widely, and several
natural groups may be recognised. Formerly these
groups were all included in the single order Filiccs ; but
the modern and more scientific view makes them separate
orders. One of the chief points of difference between
them is found in the formation of the sporangia. In all
but the most primitive, there is a ring of stronger cells
extending around each sporange, which in most species
bursts at maturity, scattering the spores. The position
of this ring is of much importance in placing the genera
in the proper orders. There are five of these orders
represented in our fern-flora, four of which are relatively
insignificant. Their principal characteristics and the
tribes and genera they contain may be arranged in a
series, from simple to complex, as follows. The relative
size of the spore-cases are shown in the illustrations.

-'94 CONCKKNINC] NOMHNCLATURK.

OPHIOGLOSSAC/E.

Sporanjiia without a ring formed
of the interior tissues of the leaf,
borne in spikes or panicles and
discharging their spores through a
transverse slit ; fronds erect or in-
clined in vernation ; roots usually
fleshy; piothallia subterranean.
Gkn f.ra — Ophioj^ lossum, Botrychium.

OSMUNDACE/E.

Sporangia spherical on altered portions
of the fronds, opening longitudinally;
ring rudimentary ; rootstock very large ;
fronds in circular crowns.

(• K N I • s — Osntioicia.

SCHlZ^ACEit.

.Sporangia egg-shaped, borne usually on a
contracted portion of the frond, opening long-
itudinally; ring apical; rootstock short
or creeping; rachis often twining.
Si /u'z(ra, l.ygodium.

HYMENOPHYLLACE/E.

Sporangia sessile along a bristle like ^^ _

receptacle and surrounded by an urn- ^^ ^m^''
shaped or funnel-form, two-lipped in- ""~ ""*

volucre ; ring transverse, opening verti- H> -— !* /«" -
cally; rootstock creeping; fronds very delicate often but
one cell thick.

I ; K \ L' s — Trichoiiiiincs.

»9S

CONCtRNIN(i NOMENCLATIJWK.

POLYPODlACE/t.
Sporangia stalked, borne on the back or
margin of tlic lri)nd, opening transversely ; m
ring vertical and elastic ; rootst" k short 11
or extensively creeping ; fronds scatteri d ^.^
or clustered ; prothallia green, not subter- ^'-
ranean.

Trihes and Genkra.

Tribe I.— PoLYPODiE.t.. C.knls. rohpodium.

Tribk II.— Grammitiue.i-:. Gknus. Xothohma.

Tribk hi.— ITkridkk. ('.kskra. Adiantum, Pterh, Chet-

Innlfies, I'clhra, Cryptfl^^nvnma.
TRlHKlV.-Bl.KCHNK.t:. Gksus. WOiHhvcirduU
TRiBK V.-ASFI.EME.T.. Gknkra. Asphnium, Athyfium. Scolo-

TRIBE VI.-ASPU.IE.F.. GENERA. r/u^opUns, A.puUum, Toly

stichum, Cystopteris. OnocUa, Struihioptcris.
TRn!EVlI.-\VOODSIE.«. Geni's. IVoods/.t.
TRIBE Vlll.— Dicksoniea:. Genus. Dicksonia.

In the early days of botany, plants were named in a
very loose and haphazard manner and several more or less
descriptive words were usually combined to form the
name of each species. These cumbersome titles were
in common use until the time of Linnsus but tha
acute naturalist perceiving the advantage of shorter and
more exact names originated a system of naming both
animals and plants in which the name of each kind
consists of but two words; the f^rst or group name
standing for the family and the second or individual
name standing for the species.

Linnaeus was not the f^rst to have a clear .conception
of genera and species, nor yet the first to give a double

206

CONCERNING NOMnNCI.A PUrM:.

name to a i)laiit, but since Itc was tlic first to rccoynise
tlie utility of a binomial system of nomenclature, and
to estal)lisli sucli a system upon a sound basis, botanists
have unanimously a-;reed to bc^Mii their nomenclature
with the publication of his " Species I'lantarum " in 1753.
In this work was inchuled every species of plant known
to Linn.'Luis and the names he there gave them arc the
ones botanists are supposed to use. One thing, how-
ever, has conspired to make a large number of changes
in these names not only permissible but necessary.
Tins is the broad view of genera taken by Linn.eus.
He placed all the ferns in a very small number of genera.
In his genus /V/j'/<v////w, for exainple, were placed si)ecies
that are now found in Cystoptcris, Aspidiniii, Polysticlnim
ixniX P/ui^oft iris. Subsequent study convinced botanists
that many of these species were distinct enough to be
placed in separate genera and this was accordingly done,
the generic name, of course, having to be changed in
the process. Unfortunately for nomenclature, these
botanists, working remote from one another, frequently
made different genera for the same species without
knowing it. Thus the rusty Woodsia was known to
Linn.x'us as Acroslichum Ilvcnse, to Swartz as Polypoditttn
Ili'cnsi\ to Michaux as Ncplirodium rufiditlum and to
Willdenow as Aspidiitui rufiduliiiii. Since we are sup-
posed to always use the earliest name, it often becomes
a nice question to decide which is first. Not only this,
but different authors sometimes gave the same name to
different plants unaware that it had been used before.
Under these circumstances it has become necessary in
exact science to add the name of the author to each com-
bination of generic and specific names to show which
species is meant.

CONCLUNIMJ NOMLNCLA I UUt.

»9f

While the generic name uf a plant must necessarily
be chan^ca when it is transfenc to another i;cnus,
there is no need of a cha.,-e in the spectk name unless
the new gcnu=» shouUI already possess a species of the
same name. There cannot, of course, be two si.exies of
the same name in any genus. It has fie.p.ently hap-
pened. however, that botanists in transferring species
have assumed the right to make new specific names
These names some botanists would discard for the oldest
specific names without regard to the circumstances
under which they were given, but there is a large body
of students who look upon a plant as not named unt.
it is placed in the right genus and hold that the first
correct combination of generic and specific na.nes is he
proper name for the plant no matter by what other
specific names it has been known. The name of the
botanist who made the correct combination is then
written after it. This is essentially the systein that has
been adopted in the nomenclature of the Check-List
following the Keys to the Species in this volume.

When a plant originally described in one genus is
transferred to another, it is the practice of many bota-
ists to place in parenthesis after the specific name, the
authority for that name, and to follow it with the name
of the botanist who made the correct combination.
Thus in the case of the rusty woodsia which is now
cited as Woo^fsia Uresis (L.) R- Br., we are to under-
stand that Linnaeus gave the specific name Itvcns.s to
the plant, and that Robert Brown was the first to make
the correct combination of generic and specific names.

The fern collector, interested in learning the names of
his plants, pays little attention to the Orders. He is
concerned with genera and species. Almost at once he

2gS

CONCERNING NOMENCLATURE.

will l)c able to rccojjiiisc the Order to which a given
species belongs and later will seldom have to consult the
Key for the genera, so noticeable do the family charac-
teristics become. The advanced student can nearly
always identify the growing fronds at a glance even
when they are sterile, but the beginner will usually need
good fruiting specimens to be sure of his specie % It is
best to collect the fertile fronds rather early, before the
thin indusia have been disarranged or obliterated by the
growing sporangia and if the sterile fronds differ notice-
ably from the fertile, they too should be collected. The
rootstock, when not too large, should also be included.

With good specimens in hand, the beginner should be
able to locate any of our ferns in the proper genus at
once by carefully following the Key. To show its work-
ings, let us suppose that the collector has found a speci-
men with rounded sori covered by a reniform indusium,
which he wishes to identify. Turning to the Key he
will observe that it branches somewhat like the veins of
the ferns themselves, dividing again and again and each
time more closely limiting the groups of species. It is
first divided into two sections numbered I. and II.
In one of these his species will be found. The first sec-
tion contains only ferns with " sporangia in spikes, pani-
cles or berry-like structures." His plant does not answer
this description so he passes on to section II. with " spo-
rangia on the under side of the frond." In this section
are two lesser divisions each marked with two stars (**).
The first co tains only species without indusium and is
passed by for the section with" indusium present." Here
hi finds several divisions all marked 4 and after reading
them he decides that his plant belongs to the one that
does not have its indusia " formed by the margin of the

CONCERNING NOMENCLATURE.

«99

frond." From the groups under this d'v.s.on marked ^
he one with roundish sori is selected and the d.v.s.on
under it. with reniform indusium. shows his plant to be
an Aspid^um. Had the indusium been ^ood-shaped .t
would have been Cystopteris, if star-shaped WW./«. and
so on. A simple magnifier costing fron. fifty cents to
one dollar will be found exceedingly useful m making out
the nature of the indusium and in examining other mi-
nute parts of the ferns.

The majority of our fern genera contam so few spec.es
that keys to them would be quite superfluous. For the
arger genera. Keys have been given by which the species
may bf traced, just as the genera are in the large Key^
Few who get really interested in ferns can resist the
tempTation to make an herbarium. Upon this point the
auThor's papers on "The Making of an Herbarium may
be coLuUed with advantage. To the student of ems
the herbarium is indispensable. It gives ^^^J^^^^
for study at times when it cannot be procured afield and
remains as a permanent record of much that would be
o^if merely entrusted to the memory. In collecting
or the herbarium or the fern garden, care should be
taken not to carry away all of any rare species. No one
s held in greateTcontempt by the true student than the
Lditwho^uthlessly destroys a station for a rare plant^
It is well to remember Uie old rule "Of a little, take
little, and leave a little."

•• If it were required to know the position of the fruit-dots or the
charictero fVindusium nothing could be easier than to ascertain
it' but if it is required that you be affected by ^ejns, that they
'amount to anything, signify anything to you. ^^^^ ^^^^^^^
sacred scripture and revelation to you. help-S 1° -'^"" ^""^ '
this end is not so easily accomplished. -Thoreau.

KEY TO THE GENERA.

The most prominent characteristics are italicised.

SECTION 1.

(Sporangia in spikes, panicles or berry-like structures.)

♦ KRITITINO FRONDS WHOLLY KKRTILK.

PACK.

i. Fruit in a one-sided spike ; plants very
small ; sterile frond thread like.

Curly grass.

ScHiZiEA. 277

1. Fruit in a club-shaped, thrice pin-
nate, woolly, brown spike ; fronds
bipinnatifid ; fruit in early spring.

Flowering fern.

OSMUNDA. 25

♦. Fruit in berrylike green structures,
in a twice pinnate spike; fronds
broad and coarse ; rootstock creep-
ing. Fruit in late summer. Sen-
sitive fern.

ONOCLEA. 253

1, Fruit in neariy cylindrical slightly

notched pinnae; fertile frond pin-

nate- sterile tall, bipinnatifid;

rootstock erect, fruit late. Ostrich

au^rthi.pur'* fern. StrUTH.optkr.s. 257

3o6

KEY TO THE GENERA.

Lyg^i

* FRUITING FRONDS PARTLY STKRILE.

'i. Fruiting portion in the middle of the
frond. Interrupted fern.

OSMUNDA. 30

H, Fruiting portion at the apex of the

frond.
«. Sterile pinn* palmate ; rachis
tiuining. Climbing fern.

Lyuodium. 280

Ofht«^fMum

a. Sterile pinnie pinnate ; fronds
large ; fertile portion green, soon
turning brown. Royal fern.

OSMUNDA. 32

Fruiting portion apparently on a sep-
arate stalk, above the sterile.

h. Sterile portion entire, thick ; fer-
tile, a simple spike. Adder's
tongue.

Ophioglossum. 45

ja«liyTlili*>

h. Sterile portion more or less <//*
vidtd ; fruit in racemes ox panicles
occasionally in spikes. Moonwort :
Grape ferns.

BOTRVCHIUM.

KEY TO THE GENERA.

SECTION 11.

(Sporangia on the under side of the fronds.)

*♦ INUUSIUM WANTING.

MO*.

I»oljrj»«ll

ium

Fruit-dot roundish, large; evergreen,
rock species. Polypody.

PuLYPODiUM. 196

Fi-rr*"

:i. Fruit-dots roundish, small; fronds
triangular. Beech ferns.

Phegopteris. 200

3. Fruit in lines on the margins of the
pinnules; under surface of the
fronds covered with whitish piw-
^g^^ , . NuTHOL^NA. 288

♦* INDUSIUM PRESENT.

4. Sori on the edge of the pinnule ; spor-
angia sessile at the base of a long
bristle-like receptacle and sur-
rounded by & funnel form, slightly
two-lipped involucre. Filmy fern.

Tkichumanes. 289

308

KEY TO THE GENERA.

-#. Sori near the margins. Iiulusia
formed by the rellexed cdtjes of the
|iiiiiiules.
«•. Sporanjiia in a continuous line;
fronds larjje, termite ; indusiuin
narrow. Bracken, PiERls.

IHarlk

Crjr j»t«g>w»

r. Sporangia in ohioiig or lunate
sori. under a refle.xtit tooth of the
pintuile ; itidusiuni broad ; stipe and
rariiis dark and shininvj. iMaiden-
hair . . Adiantum. ^42

c. Sporangia in roundish masses.

t Indusiuni broad, nearly continu-
ous ; fronds smooth ; stipes usually
dark; rock species. Cliff brakes.

PELLiEA.

t Indusium narro^ver, seldom con-
tinuous, often inconspicuous ;
fronds usually hairy.

Cheilanthes.

t Indusium of the reflexed edges,
at first reaching nearly to the mid-
rib, later nearly flat ; fruiting pin-
nules, long, podlike ; sterile fronds
broad ; stipes pale. Rock brakes.
Cryptogramma.

!37

:S7

KEY TO THE GENERA.

309

•#.

IW yrt kln i M

Cyslop^f"*

Sori various : indusium never formed
of the margin of the frond.

it, Sori and indusium od/oti^'. par-
ailel with the midrib, somewhat
sunken in the tissues of the frond ;
indusium opening toward the mid-
dle of the pinnules ; water-lovmg
species. Chain ferns.

WOOUWARUIA.

a. Sori and indusium roundish.
+ t Indusium pellatt, fixed by the
centre ; evergreen species in rocky

woods. Shield ferns.

POLYS'ICHUM.

rAci.

216

106

1 1 Indusium reniform or cordate,
fixed by the sinus ; large, mostly
woodland species. Wood ferns.

ASPIDIUM. 117

1 1 Indusium hood-shaped, attached
to the frond by its broad base.
beltm< the sorus and arching oyer
it. soon withering : moisture loving
species. Bladder ferns.

CvsTOPTERis. 209

1 1 Indusium star-shaped, of a few
irregular broad or narrow seg-
ments fixed beneath the sorus and
enclosing it when young. Not
easily seen in most species. Rock-
loving plants usually somewhat

chaffy.

WOODSIA, 93

3'o

KEY TO THE GENERA.

DbkMmi*

+ * Indusium inf>-shiipfii, tixc! be-
neath ihe sorus ; son nimutc on a
tdoth of tilt- ultimate pint)uir>> .
fronds very liuely cut. Houldcr
fern. . . , Dicksunia

229

CMOpt

Atfkniun

</. Sori and indusiumZ/wMr.

t + t Several times longer th(tn
•U'iiif, liouhtf . indusia opening
tmnarJ each i<///f»- / blade thick
linear, entire. Hart's-tonijue.

SC0L0PENDKIL'.M. ZtiS

1 1 1 Shorter, some parallel to ttjc
midrib, others oblique to it. often in
pain ox joined at the ends, irregu-
larly scattered on the underside of
the frond ; blade tapering to a
slender tip. Walkin)^ fern.

Camptosorus.

AUjrrl

1 1 + Short, straight mostly oblique
to the midrib, indusium usually
narrow, opening tonvard the mid-
rib ; fronds lobed or variously
divided. Spleenworts.

ASPLENIUM.

1 1 + Short ; indu.sium more or less
curved on the side attached to the
frond, and when young usually ex-
tending across a vein ; robust
species. Lady fern. Athyrium.

26s

>55

180

KEY TO THt GENEKA.

KEY TO THE GRAPE FERNS.

(Hottyifitum.)

u...r.lp tx)riion much divided
Plant large. (ru>un« in spHn^. stcr.le poru^ , ,,^,„,..«,.,

PJant smaller. • • ' „;„_ Lns stalked, triangular

Fruiting in autumn, slenlc port.on long ^_ ^,^^^,„„,

PAUR.

mcnts. . • • .

Plant less fleshy. . • • . jjj, ' f j^e

Stehlc purtu.n short st.dked. ^^^^ ^^^^^..^ol'u.n. ^
Sicp.:rtionsulWedusuaUyhelowthc.^d,e^o.U. ^^

Scpordon -ilenearthetopofthe.em^^^^^^. ^^

KEY TO THE WOOD FERNS.

Fronds pinnate, the pinna pinnatitid.
Blade thin, deciduous.

Lower pinns reduced to mere lobes ^ ^r^„^,racense. 1 20

Lower pinn=. not or little reduced. ^^ . ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ ^^

Veins simple . • ^ yv,<7,'//.r«. H7
Veins forked

Blade rather thick, evergreen. ^^^rrr/^ 147

Fronds small, narrow, rock spec.es A. fragu.m. 47

Fronds large, two or more feet high. ^,^„, , 39

Lower pinns. nearly triangular A. crtstatum. 39
Lower pinnae longer.

Sori close to the margin. A. margtnah. I35
Sori nearer the midvein.

Frond lanc.-olate . A.fiUx-mas 36

Frond ovate . A. Goldtcanun. 37

Fronds twice pinnate with lower pinnules P^nnatifid. _..^ AW.. ^4^

Fronds nearly thrice pmnate . • • '

313

KKY TO THE GENERA '

KEY TO THE SPLEENWORTS.

(Aspleiiium. )

Fronds pinnaut'id or pinnate below, apex long tapering.

Blade iliick, lobes rounded . , A. pinnutifidum.

Blade tiiin, lobes pointed
P'ronds pinnate.

Rachis green or straw-coloured.
Less than six inches high.
Taller, pinna- long pointed
Rachis dark.

rinnules not eared at base
Pinnules cared at base.
^Mostly opposite
Mostly alternate
Fronds more than once pinnate.

Stipes green, blades inclining to triangular

pinnules f.m-shaped. A.ruta-murari'a.

Stipes darker below, blade longer and

narrower . . .A. montanum.

Stipes and rachis dark. A. lirndleyi.

(.See. also. Athyrium^

A, fbenoides.

A. viride.
A. attguslifolium.

A. Trii/itimants,

A. pixrvulum.
A. ebeneiim.

167
169

158
188

'55

'59
160

162

164
166

KEY TO CHEILANTHES.

Fronds nearly smooth
Fronds hairy, twice pinnate
Fronds tomcntose. thrice pinnate.

\'ery small species, stipe nearly smooth.

Larger, stipes tomentose

C. Ahibivnemis.
C. xiestita.

C. /iinui^iiiosii.
C. totneuiosii.

KEY TO WOODSIA.

Stipe not jointed. .... ^V- obtusa.
Stipe obscurely jointed near the base.

Frond more or less chaffy . . IV. Ilveusis.
Fronds smooth or smoolhish.

I'lnn;** ov.ate. deeply pinnatifid . W. i^labflla.

Pinna' rounded ovate, 5-7 lobed. \V. hyperborea.

242
237

240
239

96
93

99
98

CHECKLIST OF THE FERNS OF
NORTHEASTERN AMERICA.

(NORTH OF THE GULF STATES AND EAST OF THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS.)

ADIANTUM L.

1. Adiautuin CHpUlim- VeueriH L.

2. Ailiantitm peUntum L.

ASPIDIUM Sw.

3. Aspidium Boottti Tuckerm.

Dryoptcris Hoot tit Underw.

Afpidlum crlatiifuin Sw.

Dryoptcris cristata A. Gray.
1 idiam crlsttttHin CHutoniamim D. C. Eaton.

Dryoptcris cristata Clintoniana Underw.
A»pUlinm cHstatnm x Marginale Dav.
A»lridiiiiii tin. I -lit an Sw.

Dryoptcris filix-mas Schott.

8 Attpidhim finqrnni* Sw.

Dryoptcris fragrans Schott.

9 A»pidimn V.otdUanmn Hook.
Dryoptcris Goldieana A. dray.

A^pUUnni C.oldteauHm f. celmm Palmer.

10. Anpidlnm mnrglnale Sw.

Dryoptcris iiiarginalts A. Oray.
II AHpidi»myovehoraceHtte^^\.

Dryoptcris Nirveboracensis A. t.ray.
Aspidhon XoveborareuHcf. fvugvan. Peck.

12. AHpidiinn HhHidittiiin Dav.

Dryoptcris siiiuilata Dav.

6.
7-

3>4

CHECKLIST OF THE FERNS.

13. ^tupiilinm MpinitioiiuiHSw.

Dryoplcris spinulosa Kuntze.

14. Anpidlatn npinuloHiiin intermedium D. C. F.aton.

Dryoplcris spinulosa intermedia Underw,

15. Attpittium M/uHiiloHum tliltttatum Hornemann.

Dryoplcris spinulosa ililafata Underw.

16. AspiUium Thelyptei'ia'Sw.

Dryoplcris Thelypleris A. Gray.

ASPLENIUM L.

17. AMfdenium niiffimti/'oliiim Michx.

18. Aajtleiiium Ui'tuUeifi D. C. Katon.

19. AHjtleHium ebeneam Ait.

Aspleniuni plalyneuron Oakes.
AHjtlenium ebeneam f. Hervatum A. Gray.

20. Af*jdeni»m ebenoideM Scott.

21. Asjtleiiium moHfaniim Willd.

22. AMftieHiitm parriUnm Mart. & Gal.

23. AniUeniam pinnatifidnm Nutt.

24. Asitleniinu vuta-mut'aria L.

25. Attjtleuium TrirhomaneM L.

AHplenium THchomnneit f. incinum Moore.

26. AMjdfHiiim viride Huds.

ATHYRIUM Roth.

27. Athffrimn thelypteroides Desv.

Asplenium acrostichoides S\v.
Asplenium Ihelyplcroidcs Michx.

28. Athyrimn fiUx-fwrnitui Roth.

Asplenium filix-fa'inina Hernh.
Asplenium fili.x -fit inina Michauxii Mett.

BOTRYCHIUM S\v.

29. Bott'iichinm Utnceolatum Angs.

30. Botfuchitim Liimtria Sw.

CHECKLIST OF THB FERNS.

3'5

3'-

32-

33-

34.

35-
36.

37-

38.
39-

40.
41.

42.

43-
44.

Botrychlum nuaHcariatfolium A. Br.

Botrychium negUctum Wood.
Boti'VcMum matricarltefolium tenehromm.

Botrychium Unebrosum A. A. Eaton.

Botrychium obliqimm Muhl.

Botrychium ternatum obliqmim Milde.
Botrychium oMiquu.n f. intermedium D. C. Eaton.
Botrychium obliquum ditmectum.

Botrychium ternatum dissectum MUde.
Botrychium dissectum Sprengel.
Botrychium simidex Hitchcock.
Botrychium VirgiHianum Sw. „ „ .

Botrychium Virginianum f.graclle Pursh.

CAMPTOSORUS Link.

CamntofforuH rhizophyUuH Link.
C«S?o«or«« r/U«o,>/»*,«««/. i,Uermedius Arthur.

CHEILANTHES Sw.
CheUaufhes AlabameH»lit Kunze.
CheUaiUhe» lanuginom Nutt,

Cheilanthes Feci Moore.

Cheilanthes gracilis Mett.

Cheilanthes vettita Sw.

Cheilanthes lanosa Watt.
CheilatUtieft tomentom Link.

CRYPTOGRAMMA R. Br.
Cryptogramma acrosticholdes R. Br.

CYSTOPTERIS Bernh.

Cystopteris biUbifera Bernh.
/^i7/.r bitlbifera Underw.
CyatopterlH fragUis Bernh.
/"/■//^ fragilis Underw.
CyttopteriB fragiliaf, dentma Hook.

316

CHECKLIST OF THE FERNS.

45. t'lfntojitei-itt moufaua Bernli.

/V//.1' montana Underw.

DICKSON 1 A LHer.

46. Dickttonia pUoniuttvulu Willd.

Dicksonia puiutilotula A. Gray.
Dninstiedtiii punctilobula Moore.
IHt'kttoniu pUoHiHHriilii f, rritUata Dav.

LYGODIUM Sw.
47- Lygotllum palmattiiu Sw.

NOTHOL/ENA R. Br.

48. Xotholnna dealbutn Kunze.

Notholuna tiivea I'-alhata Dav.

ONOCLEA L.

49. Ouoclea HenHibilis L.

Onoclea scnuibins f. t^ttusilobutn Torr.

Ol'HIOGLOSSUM L.

50. OpMogloMHiu rnfffatuin L.

OphioglosHHia riitgntinu f. arenarium.

Ophioi;lossuin arcnariitm E. G. Hritton.
OphioyloHHUin iii/ffafnin f. EugelmaHnl,

Ophioi^lossitm F.ngelmanni Frantl.

OSMUND A L.

51. Ouniundu ctuuttinoiiwa L.

Onmunda cliiuninomea f. f>ontlo9ti A. Gray.

52. OHiuHudn f'lafftoHinna L.

53. OHinuutla reyallH L.

PELL/EA Link.

54. Pel/rt'a ntropit "pitrea Link.

55. I'cfttfu (leHHfi Hook.

56. Peltiva ffrneifis Hook.

A/Aaj Stilleri Watt.
Crypto^ramma Stflleii I'rantL

CHECKLIST OF THE FERNS-

rHEGOPTERlS Fee.

e? rheaopteH* ni-uoifterls Fee.

J'heyoitteriH DtuoifteHn Jiobettlana Dav.
Phcgopteris Calairea Fee.
58. PhegoitteriH hexagonoptera Fee.
CO rhegojtteriH polyiMnli olden Fee.

Phejioptcris I'hegopterts Underw.

POLVroUIUM L.

60 i'«»i//i«w«rt»»ti"^"""'" •'*•

Polypodium polypodioides Hitchcock.

61. rftlifpodintuvulanieh.

j'Uut^odium vulgaref. Camhriiinn W lid.
I'olupoilUun vtdgaref. binerrat,,,,, M.Mspaugh.

Polypodium vutgare oreophilum Maxon.

Polypodium vulgare deceptum Maxon.

POLYSTICHUM Roth.

62 PolyHfichum acroMehoideH Schott.
Aspidiitm acrostic hotdes Sw.

63. PoluHtichum Itraunil Lawson.

Dryopleris Braunii Underw.

64. PolyHfichum tonehltli* Roth.

Aspidium lonchitis Sw.
Dryopteris lonchitis Kuntze.

PTERIS L.

65 Pterin aqnilina L.

Pteridium aquilinum Kuhn.
f/, Pievin aquUimi pMeadocaudata CMe.

Ptcris aquilina caudata Hook.

3'7

3«« CHECKLIST OF THE FERNS.

SCHIZ/EA J. E. Smith.

67. Schixasu pusiUa Pursh.

SCOLOPENURIUM Allans.

68. Scolopendrlum vuigare J. E. Smith.

Scolopeniiriiim Scolopendrium Karst.
PhylUtis Scolopendrium Newman.

STRUTHIOPTERIS Wilid.

69. StnitthioiiteHH Germanica Willd.

Onociea Strut/iiopteris Hoffm.
MiUteuccia Struthiopteris Todaro.
Struthiopteris Germanica Pennsylvanica Lawson.

TRICHOMANES L.

70. THchomaneM PeterMii A. Gray.

71. Ti'ichomanes raiUcauM Sw.

72
73

74
75

76
77

WOODSIA R. Br.

Woodttia glabra R. Br.
Woodoia hyperhoren R. Br.

IVoodsia alpina S. F. Gray.
WoodHia IlvennlK R. Br.
IFoodMa obtusa Torr.

WoodHia obtHHa f. glandidoMi D. C. Eaton.
It'oodida Oregttnn D. C. Eaton.
WootMa HcoptUhia D. C. Eaton.

WOODVVARDIA J. E. Smith.

78. WoodwartUa tingustffolla J. E. Smith.

Woodwardia areolata Moore.

79. Woodumrdia Virgiuica J. E. Smith.

CHECKLIST OF THE FERNS. 3'9

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE CHECKLIST OF FERNS.

LHer. C. L. L'Herilier.
L. Linnxus.

Man. & Gal, Martens & Galeotti.
Mctt. G. Mettenius.
Michx. A. Michaux.
Muhl. G. H. E. Muhlenberg.
Nutt. T. Nuttall.
Sm. J. E. Smith.
Sw. O. Swartz,
Torr. J. Torrey.
Underw. L. M. Underwood.
Tuckerm. E. Tuckerman.
K. S. Willdenow.

A. Br. A. Braun.
Adans. M. Adanson.
Ait. W. Aiton.
Angs. J. Angstroem,
Bcrnh. J. J. Bernhardi.
R. Br. Robert Brown.
Dav. Geo. E. Davenport.
Desv. N. A. Desvaux.
G. F. Hoffman.
W. J. Hooker.
W. Hudson.
Karsten.

Willd.

Hoffm.
Hook.
Huds.
Karst.

GLOSSARY.

Acui.F.ATF..-Armed with prickles.
AciTMiNATK.-Tapering to a slender point.
Acute— Pointed; endins in a sharp point.

AuvKNTiTlous.-That which comes from abroad ; as a plant in-
troduced by chance.
ADVKNTlTious UUDS.-Buds produced without order on any part of

the plant. . ,

ANAsr..Mus.NG.-Forming a network ; as veins umtmg with one

another.
ANNULUS.-A ring, especially that which surrounds the spore-cases

in most ferns.
ANTHERii>iA.-The male organs on the prothalhum.
Ai'icuLATK.-Tcrminating abruptly with a small point.
Archkconia.— The female organs on the prothalhum.
Areola (Pl. Areol*).-A space enclosed by anastomosmgvemlets.

Areolate.— Having areola;. ,

Articulated. -Jointed or having the appearance of a joml.

AURicLED.— Eared.

AuRicuLATE.— With ear-like appendages.

BiPiNNATE.— Twice pinnate.

BiPlNNATJFiD.— Twice pinnatifid.

Blade.— The expanded, leafy portion of a frond.

BRISTLE.-A stiff hair ; any slender outgrowth from the plant as m

the fruiting parts of filmy ferns.
BULBIFEROUS.— Bearing little bulblets.
BULBLET.-A small bulb, especially such as are borne upon leaves

or in their axils.
Caudate.— With a slender, tail-like appendage.
Caudex. —A trunk, especially that of a tree-fern.
Chaff.— Slender, papery scales.
Chartaceous.— Having the texture of parchment.
Chlorophyll.— The green colouring matter of plants.

3««

GLOSSARY.

CiLlATE.— Fringed with fine hairs.

CiRciNA IE. -Coiled, as the buds of ferns, from tip to base.

Clavate.— Club shaped. , ,k. f,„„H

COMPOUNU.-Uivided into two or more portions, said of the frond.

Confluent.— Ulcndcd together.

0)RDATE.-Heartshaped; ovate with a sinus at base.

Coriaceous.— Lilce leather in texture.

C REN ATE. -With rounded teeth ; said of margins.

CRENULATE.-Scallopcd with small rounded teeth.

Crosier.— An uncoiling frond.

CROWN.-Thc growing end of the rootstock or caudex.

Cuneate.— Wedge shaped.
CUSPIDATE.-Terminating in a sharp, hard point.

DEClouous.-Not evergreen ; subject to being shed at certain sea-

sons.
Decompound.— Several times compounded or divided.
Decumbent.— Not erect ; bending along the ground.
DECURRENT.-Extended downward along the rachis; said of the

bases of pinnse, etc.
Deflexed.— Bent abruptly downward.
Dentate.— Toothed ; said of the margins.
Denticulate.— Finely toothed.
Depauperate.— Starved : prevented from coming to its natural size

through lack of nourishment.
DicHOTOMOUS.— Forked in pairs ; two forked.
Dimidiate.— Halved, or as if one half was wanting, as in the pin-
nules of some Adiantums.
DIMORPHOUS.— Of two forms; said of ferns whose fertile and sterile

fronds are not alike.
Dissected.— Cut into many lobes or divisions.
Elliptical.— Oblong with rounded ends.
Em ARGIN ATE.— Notched at the summit.
Entire.— Not divided ; said of fronds or pinnules whose margins

are without notches or teeth.
Falcate.— Scythe shaped ; curved upward.
Fertile.— Producing spores.
Flabellate.— Fan-shaped.
Filiform.— Threadlike.

GLOSSARY.

auAlfc bu. Irequcmly i. » ».d«n.ply >oto.ga«. the l»ly

portion.
Fruit.— Sporangia.
FRun-i>o'.— A sorus.
Fugacious.— Shori-livcd; falling early.

Glabrous.— Smooth. „,„allv

Gland.- A minute globular or pear-shaped organ which usually

st( retcs a resinous, waxy, ^ummy or aromatic product.
Glandular.— Furnished v h glands.
GLAUCOus.-Covercd with a very fmc. powdery substance, as plums

arc. .

GLUTiNous.-Covered with a sticky exudation.
Habit -The gen. al appearance of a plant.
HAB.TAT.-TSe natural dwelling place of an an.mal or plant.
Hirsute.— Having coarse stiff hairs. i , „„ -

Lmbr"ca;ed. -Overlapping or breaking joints like shingles on a

roof.

,»vot"«r-Th.e»p.»h.H p,~.s.es surrounding .h. ,po».^
in the mmy (eras ; an indumum.

ally tapering at base also.
LAMINA -A blade : the leafy portion of a frond.
LiNEAR.-Long and narrow.
, OBF.-Onc of the small divisions of a frond.
J UjjATE.-Shaped like a half-moon.
M.,c=,KA..-Si,ua.ed on. or ■='- ^° -^^ ^'f „ „, fl„i„..

forming a point.

J-'4

GLOSSARY.

OBi.ANtKoi.ATK.— The reverse o( lanceolate ; broadest near the apex.

Oiii,ON(i.— Two or three tiine» longer than broad.

Obovatf..— The reverse of ovate.

Obtuse.— Hiunt; without point.

Orbicular.— Circular.

Ovate.— Egg-shaped ; the broadest part near the base.

Paleaceous.— Clothed with chaff.

I'Ai.M ATE.— With spreading divisions like the fingers of the hand.

Panicle.— A cluster of fruit in which the stems branch more or less.

Pa pyraceous.— Paper-like.

PKOICEL.— A tiny stalk ; especially the stalk of the sporangia.

Peltate.— Shield-shaped ; said of scales and indusia that are at-
tached to the frond by their centers.

Persistent.— Not falling away ; remaining on the plant.

Petiole.— Same as stalk and stipe.

Pinna (Pl. Pinn.*). — One of the primary divisions of a frond.

Pinnate.— Consisting of several leaflets arranged on each side of a
common petiole or rachis.

Pinnatifid. — Divided in a pinnate manner, but with leaflets not
entirely separate.

Pinnule. — One of the small divisions of a pinnate leaf.

Procumbent.— Lying along the ground.

Proliferous.— Giving rise to new plants.

Prothallium ,Pl. Prothallia).— The minute scale-like growth
from the spore of a fern.

Pubescence.— A covering of soft, short hairs.

Pubescent. — Covered with fine, soft hairs.

Quadripinnate.— Four times pinnate.

Rachis. — The continuation of the stipe through a compound frond.

Receptacle.— The part of the frond to which the sporangia are at-
tached, especially in the Filmy Ferns.

Rf.flexed.— Abruptly bent downward or backward.

Reniform.— Kidney shaped.

Revolute.— Rolled backward, as the margins of some fronds.

Rhizome.— An underground stem ; a rootstock.

ROOTSTOCK.— Same as rhizome. The portion that produces the
fronds in most of our species.

Scales.— The chaff on the stems of ferns.

GLOSSARY.

J<S

ScANDf.NT.— ClimbinK.

Seomen I.— One of ihe smaller divisions of a pinnatifid frond.

SERRATE. -With sawlikc teeth ; said of margins.

SESSlLE.~\Vithout a stalk.

Sinuate —Wavy ; said of margins.

Si j< us.— The re-entering space between two lobes.

S«)RUS (Fl.. S«.Rl).— An assemblage of sporangia; a fruit dot.

Spat u I. ate.— Spoon-shaped.

SPiNk:.— A sharp point ; a thorn.

SpinuI-OSK.— Thorny ; set with small spines.

Sporangk (Pi.. SP()KAN(;ia.)-A tiny globe in which the spores are

proiluccd. . .

Spore.— A one-celled body, the fruit of the higher cryptogams ; it is

produced ascxually and is the analogue of a seed.
SP()RECASE.-Same as sporangc ; the case in which the spores are

borne.
Stai.k.— Same as stipe.

Si EH11.E -Barren. Said of fern leaves that do not produce spores
ST1PE.-The petiole or stalk of the fern leaf which bears the leafy

portion aloft.
Stolon.-A trailing, or often underground, branch.
Subulate.— Awl-shaped.
TERNATE.-With three nearly equal divisions.
Tomentose.— Covered with matted wood.
ToMENTUM.— Close matted woolly hairs.
Tooth —The smallest divisions of the fronds.
ToRTUOUS.-Bent or twisted in different directions.
Tripinnate.— Three times pinnate.
Truncate.— Appearing as if cut off abruptly.
Undulate.— Wavy-margined. , »„„.

VASCULAR.-Containing vessels, ducts, etc. as the stems of ferns.
VF,N.-One of the small branches in the framework of a leaf.
VENATION.-The manner in which the veins are arranged in the

VERNATiON.-Thc arrangement of leaves in the bud.
VIVIPAROUS.-Producing young upon various parts of the plant.
WiNdED.-Uordercd with tissue as the rachis of some ferns.

Index to the Common Names.

Adder's fern, 197.
Adder's-spear. 48,
Adder's-spit, 48.
Adder's-tongue, 45.
Alpine Woodsia, 98.
Atlantiii fern, 279.

lUBVfern, 157.

Hack-ache fern, 185.

Basket fern, 137.

IJearVpaw, 123.

IJeaver-meadow fern, 1 3a

Beech fern, 200.

Beech-fern, broad, 202.

Berry-bearing fern, 214.

Black-stemmed spleenwort, 157.

Blasting-root, 52.

Blue fern, 85.

Bog fern, 220

Boss fern, 133.

Boulder fern, 229^

Bracken, 69.

Brake, 29, 70, 72.

Brake, hog, 29.

Brake, buckhorn, 34.

Brake, rock, 285.

Brake, stone, 197.

Brake, sweet, 137.

Brake, winter, 84.

Braun's holly fern.

Bristle fern, 288.

Brittle bladder fern, 211.

Lroad beech fern, 20a.

Buckhorn brake, 34.

Buckler fern, 133.

i8s

iia

Bulbiferous bladder fern, 212.
Burnt-weed, 270.
Buttonholes, 270.

cX*..'..

Caterpillar fern, 27a
■Xlhristnias fern, lod
Christ's hair, 27a
Cinnamon fern, 25.
Clayton's fern, 32.
Climbing fern, 280.
Common bladder fern, 209.
Common chain fern, 219.
Common grap<! fern, 54.
Common polypody, 196.
Creeping fern, 281.
Creeping water fern, 12a
Crested fern, 139.
Cup fern, 211.
Curly grass. 277.

Dense cliff-brake, 87.
Ditch fern, 34.
Dragon's bridge^ 256.
Dwarf spleenwort, 157.

Eac.le fern, 72.
Lbony spleenwort, 160.
English maidenhair, 1 57.
Erne fern, 72.
Evergreen wood-fern, 136.

Female fern, 74, 183.

Fern seed, 74, 183.

Fiddle-heads, :t6.

Filix-mas, 137.

Filmy ferns, 288.

Fine-haired mountain fern, 231.

./*

3»8

INDEX TO THE COMMON NAMES

Flowering fern, j3.
Fuut■^lhaped Canadian maiden*

hair, 344.
Fragrant fern, 147.
F'rench bracken, 34.

GoLDtN-locKs, 197.
Gulden pulypody, 197.
CJuldie'ii shield fern, IJ7.
Gossamer fern, 231.
Grape, fern comimin, 54.
Grape, lance-leaved, 51/
Grape, little, 58.
Grape, matricary, 60.
Gray polypody, 198.
Green maidenhair, 159.
Green spleenwort, 1 58.
Ground fern, 120.

IIair fern, 96.

Hairy Dicksonia, 231.

Hairy lii)-fern, 239.

Hairy Woodsia, 96.

Hartford fern, 281.

Hart's tongue, 269.

Hay-scented fern, 231.

Heart of Osmund, 26.

Hemlock-leaved moonwort, 44.

Hoary polypody, 199.

Hog brake, 29.

Holly fern, 108.

Holly fein, Braun's, iia

Hound's tongue, 270.

Indicatur, 44.
Interrupted fern, 3a

Kidney fern, 1S9.

Killarney fern, 287.

King Charles in the Oak, 73.

King fern, 34.

Knotty brake fern, 137.

Lady fern, 119, 179.
Lance-leaved grajie fern, 59,
Little ebony spleenwort, 160.
Little grape fern, 58.

Maidenhaik fern, 243.
Maidenhair, English, 157.
Maidenhair, foot-shaped, Cana*

dian, 244.
Maidenhair, green, 1 59.
Maidenhair, white, 163.
Maidenhair spleenwort, 155.
Male fern, 136.
Marginal shield fern, 134.
Marsh fern, 117.
Massachusetts shield fern, 1 26.
Matricary grape fern, 60.
Moonwort, 51.

Moonwort, hemlock-leaved, 44.
Moonwort, royal, 34.
Moonwort, Virginia, 44.
Moss fern, 197.
Mountain bladder fern, 214.
Mountain spleenwort, 164.

Narrow-Leaved chain fern, 321.
Narrow-leaved spleenwort, 187.
New York fern, 120.

Oak fern 73, 203, 256.
Oak-leaved fern, 256.
Oblong Woodsia, 96.
Obtuse Woodsia, 96.
One-sided fern, 279.
Ostrich-feather fern, 258.
Ostrich fern, 258.

Parsley fern, 288.
Pinnatifid spleenwort, 167.
Polypody, common, 196.
Polypody, golden, 197.
Polypody, gray, 198.
Polypody, hoary, 199.
Polypody, scaly, 199.

INDEX TO THE COMMON NAMES. 3^9

Polypody, six-angletl, 203.
Polypody sweet, 148.
Purple-stemmed cliit-brake, 85.

Quill (em, 120.

Raitlesnake fern, 41.
Regal fern, 34.
Resurrection fern, 199.
Rock brake, 285.
Rock fern, Ij6.
Royal (em, 34.
Royal moonwort, 34.
Royal Osmund, 34.
Rusty Woodsia, 93.

Scaly polypody, 199.
Screw (em, 162.
Seaweed (em, 270.
Sensitive (em, 253.
Shield (em, Massachusetts, 126.
Shield, marginal, 134.
Shield, spinulose, 143.
Shuttlecock (ern, 2^.
Silvery spleenwort, 185.
Six-angled polypody, J03.
Slender clif(-brake, 85.
Small spleenwort, 1 591
Smooth Woodsia, 99.
Snake brake, 39.
Snake-tongie (em, 281.
Snuff-box fern, 120.

Spinulose shield fern, 143.

Spleenwort, black-stemmed, 157.

Spleenwort, . »rf, 157.

Spleenwort, ebony, 160.

Spleenwort, green, 158.

Spleenwort, maidenhair, 1 55.

Spleenwort, mountain, 164.

Spleenwort, little ebony, 160.

Splec!.-*' t, narrow-leaved, 187.

Spleenwort, pinnatifid, 167.

Spleenwort, silvery, 185.

Spleenwort, small, 1 59.
Spleenwort, swamp, i8>
Spleenwort, wall, 157.
Spring wurrel, 52.
St. Christopher's herb, 34
St John's hands, 137.
Stone brake, 197.
Stone (ern, 163, 197.
Swamp spleenwort, 1S9.
Sweet brake, 137-
Sweet polypody, 148.
Sun (ern, 201.

TfcNT-NVoRT, 163.
Tree (ern, 33, I99-
Two-ranked (ern, 258.
Turkey(oot (ern, 71.

Umbrella (ern, 73.
Unshoe-the-hoise, 53.
Upland (em, 73.

Venus-Hair (em, 246.
VermKuge 137.
Virginia moonwort, 44.

Water (em, 33.
Waterwort (em, 157.
Walking (ern, 265.
Wall (em, 197.
Wall link, 267.
Wall rue, 162.
Wall spleenwort, 157.
White maidenhair, 163.
Whiteoak (em, 2U.
Windsor fern, 281.
Winter brake, 84-
Woodsia, alpine, 98.
Woodsia, oblong. 96.
Woodsia, obtuse. 96.
Woodsia, rusty, 93.
Woodsia, smooth, 99.
Woolly lil)-(ern, 240.

Index to the Scientific Names.

Synonyms anil exotic species are ihiliciseJ,

Adiantcm, 247.
Caiiiideusc, 244.
Capillus- Veneris, 246.
pedatum, 242.
pcdiitum raui^iferiuin, 245,
Asl'IDIUM, lOJ, 117, 126, 133.
liuottii, 141.
criNtatiiin, 139.
iTJ.statiiiu (.'iintoniantim, 141,
cristatuin x niaigiiMii.', 141.
filix-nias, 136.
fragraiis, 147.
('■■lUlieaiuini. 138.

(. ccl>um, 138.
marginale, 134.
A'(T i/</if «,'t-, 123.
Novchoraccnse, 12OL

f. fragr.iiis, 122.
i»tOfteri.u 121.
Mmulatuin, 123.
spinulu.suni, 143.
spinulusiini dilatatuni, 145.
sinnulosum inleriiieiliuiii, 14J
Thelypli'ii>, 112.
AsiLKNH M. 173, 179.
iiiii'itii/u'iJfs^ 187.
aiif,usti(oliiim, 188.
Uradleyi, 166.
clicniim, 160.

(. inci'sum, 162.

f. iierratum. 162.
cl)enoides, i6<).
Jilix-Jarmiiiii, 179.

foiitiiHum, 172.
maniium, 172.
montaiuim, 164.
parvuluni, 1 59.
pinnatifidun), 167.
platyneuron, 162.
ruta-niuraria, 162.
Trichomancs, 155,

f. iiiciscm, 1 57.
viride, 158.
Atiiyrium, 179, 189.
cyclosorum, 185.
filix-foemiita, 180.
Jilix-famina Mi,/hiii.\ii, 185.
A/ii/iiiiixii, 185.
thelypteroides, 185.
UoTRvriiii M, 51, 69.
lancculatuin, 59.
I.iinaria, 51.
matricariiF, 57.
niatricarixfoliiim, 6c.
niatricarixfoliutn teiichro-

8uin, 60.
iie^lt'iliim, 61.
obliquum, 54.

f. dissectum, 57.

f. iniennedium, 57.
simplex, 58.
Itmhrosum, 61.
Vifginianum, 42.
Ca.mi'Tusorus, 268.
rlii^o])hylIus, 265.

f. interinedius, 2^)8.

INDKX ro rilK SCIENTIFIC NAMKS. 33'

SiHrkus, 268.
Chhilantiiks, ;37. 242.
Alabamensis, 242.
Fai, 24'-
gnu His, 24 ••
laiiosa, 239.
lanuginosa, 240.
tomentiisa, 239.
vestita, 237.
CRVrnxiKAMMA, 286.
acrosticlioiiles, 285.
StilUri, 87.
CvsToPTEKls, 209.
bulbifera. 212.
{ragilis, 209.

f. angustata, 2t2.
f. dentata, 21-'.
f. laciniata, 212.
montana, 214.
DcnnstudtiiU 231.
DicKsoNiA ,231.
pilosiuscula, 229.
Dryopitris, 105, II7. 127. '33-
/■///>, 209.
Liistrea, 133. 149'
Lygodium, 280.
palmatum, 280.
Matteuccia Stnitlinfteris, 259.

/. Pfniisyhiiniia, 259.
Ntphrodium, 127, 149-

NOTHOL/KNA, 287.

dealbata, 286.
«/r<vj, 286.
ONoci.KA, 253.
sensibilis, 253.

f. obtusilobata, 256.
Striitliiopteiis, 259.
Opiiio<;i.oss('m, 48.
arettitriuiH, 47.
vulgatum, 45.
f. arenariiini, 47.
f. Kngelnianni, 48.
OsMiiNiiA, 25, 35.

cinnamnmea, 25.
f. frondosa, 29.
Claytoniana, 3a
inttrrupta, 32.

regali*. 3»-
speelabilis, 35.
Peli.^.a, 83, 88.
atropurvjurea, 84.
densa, 87.
gracilis, 85.
Phecopteris, 195, 204.
caUarta, 204.
Dryopteris, 203.
Dryopteris Robertiana, 204-
hexagonoptera, 202.
phegoptfris, 201.
polypodioidcs, 200.
Phyltitis SiOlopdidiium, 271.
roi.VPoniiiM, 195, 204.
deteptum, 198.
incanum, 198.
f(dypOiiioidfs, 199.
vulgare, 196.
f. angustum, 197.
f. biserratum, 198.
f. Cambriciim, 197.
f. cristatum, 198.
f. rotundatum, 197.

POLYSTICHUM, 105, MI.

acrostichoides, 106.
f. crispum, 107.
f. incisum, 107.
acuUatum, 1 10.
atuktxium Ciilifortiiiiim. ill.
acuUalum angulare, 111.
liraunii, iia
lonchitis, 108.
munittim, 108.
Pteridium, 77.
Pteris, 77
Aquilina, 69.

aquilina pseudocaiidata, 77.
aquiliiid laniiginosiu 77-

33a

INDEX TO THE SCIENTIFIC NAMES.

aquitiua fuhicens, 77.
cauiiata, 77.
gracilis, 87.
SUlUri, 87.

SCHIZiCA,

pusilla, 277.
ScoLoPENnKrtJM, J70.

offiiitiarum, 271.

Scolopendrium, 27 1.

vulgare. 268.
StruthioI'TERIs, 253.

Germanica, 357.
Triciiumanes, 292.

Petersii, 291.

radicaiu, 289.
VVooDsiA, loa
alpina, 99.
glabella, 99.
hyp«rborea, 98.
Ilveiwis, 93.
obtusa, 96.

{. glandulosa, 97.
Oregana, 97.
scopulina, 97.

WOODWARDIA, 22>

angustifolia, 221.
artotata, 223.
Virginica, 219.