22 POLYPODIACEAE 



15. Dryopteris dilat^ta (Hoffm.) Gray. Eootstock creeping or ascending. 

 Leaves equal, spreading in a complete crown; petioles with dark brownish, often 

 darker-centered, scales; blades 2.5-S dm. long, 1-4 dm. broad, triangular to ovate 

 or broadly oblong, acuminate, deeply S-pinnatifid; leaflets variable, the lower ones 

 broadly and unequally ovate or triangular, those above lanceolate to oblong, acute or 

 acuminate, the lowermost at least pinuately divided; pinnules convex, broadly oblong 

 to lanceolate, acute, the largest not decurrent, pinnately divided; segments pinnately 

 lobed, the teeth mucronate, usually not appressed: sori mostly subterminal: indusia 

 glabrous or with a few glands. 



In rocky mountain woods, Newfoundland to Alaska, south to California, Tennessee and 

 North Carolina. Greenland. Also in Europe and Asia. 



16. Dryopteris hexagondptera (Michx.) C. Chr. Eootstock slender, creeping, 

 chaffy, somewhat fleshy; petioles 2-4.5 dm. long, stramineous, naked; leaf -blades 

 triangular, 2-3.5 dm. wide, usually broader than long, slightly pubescent, often 

 glandular beneath, acuminate; leaflets adnata to the irregularly winged stramineous 

 rachis, acuminate, the upper and middle ones lanceolate, with numerous obtuse oblong 

 segments, the lowest ones unequally ovate to lanceolate-ovate, with the middle pin- 

 nules spaced and often deeply pinnatifid: sori mostly near the margin [Phegopteris 

 hexagonoptera (Michx.) Fee.] 



In dry woods, Quebec to Minnesota, south to Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas. 



17. Dryopteris gODglyodes (Schk.) Kuntze. Eootstock wide-creeping, small, 

 dark. Leaves in two rows, mostly distant; petioles brownish, naked, 3-9 dm. long; 

 blades oblong-lanceolate, 0.5-1 m. long, 12-25 cm. wide; leaflets narrow, the lower 

 ones not reduced, cleft | to ^ the way to the midrib; segments triangular, blunt or 

 acutish; veins 6-9 pairs, the basal ones joined, the resulting vein excurrent to the 

 sinus: sori copious, medial: indusia glabrous. [D. unita of authors, in part.] 



In thickets and low open situations, Florida. Widely distributed in the tropics. 



18. Dryopteris parasitica (L.) Kuntze. Eootstock erect, stoutish. Leaves 4-9 

 dm. long, long-petioled, spreading: blades 3-6 dm. long, lanceolate to ovate-lanceo- 

 late, rather abruptly reduced below, 2-pinnatifid, pubescent; leaflets horizontal, 

 linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, sessile, cut f or more the distance to the 

 midrib; segments numerous, close, oblong, rounded, entire or nearly so; veins 7-10 

 pairs, simple, the basal ones joined, the resulting vein excurrent to the sinus: sori 

 nearly medial: indusia ciliate, persistent. 



In rich rocky woods, Alabama and Florida. Widely distributed in the tropics. 



19. Dryopteris radicans (L.) Maxon. Leaves spreading or procumbent; peti- 

 oles 7-25 cm. long, clustered, straw-colored, slender; blades 10-30 cm. long, mem- 

 branous, softly pubescent with simple and shorter stellate hairs, oblong-lanceolate, 

 pinnate, with nearly sessile or crenate or crenately pinnatifid leaflets, the apex merely 

 pinnatifid, or often elongated and rooting: veins pinnate, simple, the basal ones 

 usually united: sori nearly medial, sometimes with a rudimentary pilose indusium. 

 [Goniopteris reptans (Sw.) Presl.] 



Oh calcareous rocks, middle and peninsular Florida. Also in the West Indies and 

 Mexico. 



20. Dryopteris tetrdgona (Sw.) Urban. Leaves few, erect from a creeping 

 woody rootstock; petioles 15-45 cm. long, sulcate, nearly glabrous; blades 3-6 dm. 

 long, 15-30 cm. wide ; leaflets spreading, 7.5-15 cm. long, lanceolate, attenuate, the 

 lowest narrowed at the base and sometimes stalked, deeply pinnatifid, herbaceous, 

 livid green, the rachis and veins more or less pubescent: veins pinnate, the lowermost 

 1 or 2 pairs usually united: sori in a close row near the midrib. [Goniopteris tetrd- 

 gona (Sw.) Presl.] 



in rocky woods, Marion County, Florida. General in tropical America. 



27. MENISCIUM Schreb. 

 Similar to Dryopteris. Leaves upright, the blades mostly once-pinnate; primary 

 veins of the leaflets connected by numerous parallel transverse arcuate veins, each 

 with a short free veinlet extending toward the margin. Sori elliptical or somewhat 

 curved, borne at the middle of the transverse veins. Indusia wanting. 



1. Meniscium reticul^tum (L.) Schk. Eootstock stout, short, decumbent. 

 Petioles strong, tufted, 2-15 dm. long, naked; blades 3-14 dm. long, oblong-lanceo- 

 late, simply pinnate; leaflets numerous, spreading, lanceolate-oblong from a rounded 

 or inequilateral base, long-acuminate, 1-4.5 dm. long, 2-7.5 cm. broad, the lower ones 

 at least stalked and usually bulbiferous at the axils, the margins entire or crenulate. 



In cypress swamps, border of Everglades, Florida. Common in tropical America. 



