356 Class XXIV. Order L 



288. ADIANTUM. 

 ADIANTUM PBDATUM. L. Maidenhair. Mowhuir. 



Frond pedate ; divisions pinnate ; segments 

 rhoinboid-oblong, somewhat lunate, cut-lobed. 



Few vegetables possess a greater delicacy of structure than 

 is exhibited by the glossy stems, and fine, regular leaves of the 

 Maidenhair. The stipe, which is of a shining, jet black, di- 

 vides by a large fork into two principal branches, each df which 

 gives off several successive branches from its upper side ; so 

 that the whole frond has the appearance of a pedate leaf with- 

 out its middle division. The segments or leafets are alternate, 

 oblong, entire on the lower edge, cut and toothed on the upper. 

 The fruit grows in semicircular points at the margin of the leaf, 

 covered by the folding back of its edge. Found in moist, rocky 

 woods. Perennial. 



289. PTERIS. 

 PTERIS AQUILINA. L. Common Brake. 



Frond more than decompound ; divisions pin- 

 nate ; segments oblong-lanceolate, the lower ones 

 pinnatifid, upper ones entire and smaller. 



Very common in woods, and about the borders of fields and 

 pastures. Stipe erect, smooth, dividing by large, opposite 

 branches, which are again subdivided. Segments or leafets 

 sessile, oblong, tapering to an obtuse point, the lower ones larg- 

 est, their edge divided into large, obtuse teeth, by a sort of ser- 

 pentine line ; upper ones entire, obtuse. The fructification 

 grows in a continued, narrow line at the edges of the frond, and 

 is covered by its reflexed margin. Perennial. 



