black to chestnut-brown at the base, green or reddish-brown above, glabrous, 

 lustrous, 3-9 dm. long; blades broadly ovate to oblong-elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 

 bluntly acute, pinnate-pinnatifid, subcoriaceous, 3-6 dm. long. 12-30 cm. wide; 

 pinnae linear-lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, with small brown scales 

 along the midrib, 7.5-15 cm. long, 12-35 mm. wide, deeply pinnatifid; ultimate 

 segments obliquely ovate to oblong-lanceolate, obtuse to acute, 5-6 mm. wide, 

 with the margins somewhat reflexed; sori double, contiguous to confluent, borne 

 on the transverse veins forming the outer side of the areoles, oblong-linear, 

 chainlike. Anchistea virginica (L.) Presl. 



In sphagnous bogs, swamps, moist thickets and meadows, and along streams, 

 rather generally distributed in Tex. in the Timber Belt and in the extreme s.e. 

 border cos. in the Coastal Prairies, w. to Gonzales, Lee and Milam cos. in the 

 Blackland Prairies; from Fla. to Tex., n. to N.S., Ont. and 111.; also Berm, 



4. Lorinseria Presl Chain Fern 

 A monotypic genus. 

 1. Lorinseria areolata (L.) Presl. Fig. 15. 



Slender herbaceous plants; rhizomes slender, widely creeping, chaffy with brown 

 ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate scales, to 4 mm. thick; fronds dimorphic, scattered 

 on the rhizome; sterile fronds spreading, to 75 cm. high; stipes slender, greenish 

 or stramineous, sometimes purplish-brown toward the base, 15-35 cm. long; blades 

 ovate-oblong to ovate-deltoid, acuminate, usually deeply pinnatifid, sometimes 

 pinnate below, membranous, 1.5-4 dm. long; ultimate segments alternate, linear- 

 lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, acute to acuminate, lightly or sometimes deeply 

 sinuate, serrulate, usually connected by wings on the rachis or the lower pairs 

 free, to 13 cm. long and 2 cm. wide, the veins joined in the numerous hexagonal 

 areoles; fertile fronds erect, usually surpassing the sterile ones; stipes stout, 

 purplish-brown, lustrous, 3-6 dm. long; blades ovate-oblong, obscurely pinnatifid 

 or pinnate, 1.5-3 dm. long; pinnae alternate, distant, linear, often connected by a 

 slight wing along the rachis, mostly. less than 5 mm. wide; sori linear to elliptic, 

 in a single row on each side of the midrib. Woodwardia angustifolia Sm., W. 

 areolata (L.) Moore. 



In sandy bogs and low sandy woods, swamps, marshes, thickets, on seepage 

 slopes and along streams in s.e. Okla. and in Tex. generally distributed and rather 

 frequent in the Timber Belt s. to Jefferson Co. in the Coastal Prairies and Bastrop 

 and Gonzales cos. in the Blackland Prairies; from Fla. to Tex., Okla., Ark. and 

 Mo., n. to N.S. and Mich. 



5. Athyrium Roth Lady Fern 



About 200 species that are in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the 

 world. 



1. Athyrium Filix-femina (L). Roth var. asplenioides (Michx.) Farw. Southern 



LADY FERN. Fig. 17. 



Rather large terrestrial plant; rhizome shortly creeping, with light-brown scales, 

 about 7 mm. in diameter; fronds clustered, to 12 dm. high; stipes yellowish-green, 

 often tinged with red or brown, stramineous when dry, sparingly scaly below; 

 blades ovate-lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, pinnate-pinnatifid to 

 rarely subtripinnate (at least below), thin-herbaceous to subcoriaceous, essen- 

 tially glabrous throughout, usually exceeding the length of the stipe, to 35 cm. 

 wide; pinnae shortly stalked, elliptic-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, 

 spreading horizontally or curved-ascending with age, to 4 cm. wide; pinnules or 

 ultimate segments mostly decurrent on the rachis, sometimes subpetiolate, oblong- 

 lanceolate, obtuse to shortly acuminate, incised to serrate or lobulate with the 



67 



