5538 
A. Vulgata.—Frond large, ovate to elliptic, basal veins 9-13, 
Apex obtuse; areolae narrow with few veinlets, I. O. vulgatum., 
Apex mucronate ; areolae broad with many veinlets. 2. O. Engelmanni. 
B. Lusitanica.—Frond small, lanceolate; basal veins 3-7. 
Plants 5-18 cm. high; peduncle 5-9 cm.; veins 7. 3. O. arenarium. 
Plants 2-6 cm. high; peduncle 5—15 mm.; veins 3. 4. O. Californicum. 
PTILONEURA.—Sterile frond with few or several unequal veins at base, midvein 
branching and generally continuous to apex. 
C. Reticulata.—Rootstock not thickened; plants 10-30 cm. high. 
Sterile lamina ovate or cuneate at base, thin. 5. O. Alaskanum. 
Sterile lamina reniform or cordate at base. 6. O. reticulatum. 
D. Macrorhiza.—Rootstock thick or globose; plants 3-8 cm. high. _ 
Peduncle from base of the cuneate lanceolate sterile lamina; rootstock tuberous. 
7. O. pusillum. 
Peduncle from petiole; sterile lamina cordate ; rootstock globose. 
8. O. crotalophoroides. 
II, CHEIROGLOSSA,.—Sterile frond palmately divided, fertile spikes 5-14. 
9. O. palmatum. 
I. OpHIOGLOssuM vuLGATUM L. Sp. Pl. 2: 1518. 1753. Eaton, 
Ferns of N. Am. 2: 261. 2. 87. figs. 1-3. 1880. Gray’s Man- 
ual, 6th Edition t. 20. 1889. 
Plants 1-4 dm. high; rootstock cylindric, ‘sometimes quite 
large and tuberous, bearing 1—3 leaves; petiole partly subterranean, 
3-16 cm. long; sterile lamina ovate or ovate-lanceolate, oval or 
elliptic, most trequently oblanceolate or spatulate, 3-12 cm. long, 
I-5 cm. broad; base long and narrow, tapering into the petiole, 
rarely broad and clasping; apex obtuse or acute, not cuspidate; 
basal veins 9-11, midvein sometimes slightly stronger, lateral 
veins approximate and parallel, connected by short oblique vein- 
lets, forming long narrow areolae in the middle of the leaf, and 
shorter hexagonal ones near the margin and apex with usually one 
short straight free veinlet; epidermis fleshy and wrinkled in 
young plants, becoming pellucid when old, with numerous stomata ; 
peduncle arising from the base of the sterile lamina, 10—30 cm. 
high; spike 1.5-5 cm. long, apex prolonged beyond the sporangia 
which are in 11-52 pairs; spores .03-.05 mm., reticulated with 
angular areolae, the ridges between narrow and thickened, making 
an irregular outline. 
Preferring loamy soil in woods or open meadows, occasionally 
in boggy places or dry hillsides; usually a few scattered plants are 
found in one locality. Ranging from Quebec and Ontario, south 
to Florida; also in California. Widely distributed in Europe, 
Madeira and the Azores and Western Asia, and Japan. 
