O'JG FILICES. (FERNS.) 



14. NEPHROLEPIS, Bcbott. 



Fruit-dots at the ends of the veins, in a series near the margin of the pinna;. 

 Indusium renifonn, often broadly so, fixed by the sinus, or by the arcuate base, 

 open obliquely toward the margin of the pinnae. Fronds pinnate, elongated; 

 the pinnae articulated to the rachis. Veins free, forked from the midrib, their 

 apices thickened. 



1. N. exalt ata, Sehott. Fronds linear, indefinitely elongated, unfolding 

 numerous pinna', which are oblong-lanceolate, auriculate on the upper side of 

 the base, rounded on the lower side, faleate, crenately serrate ; fruit-dots large ; 

 indusium renifonn or crescent-shaped, the oblique sinus narrow and deep or 

 broad and shallow on the same pinnae. — South Florida, Dr. Cooper. — Fronds 

 l°-6° long, 2' -3' wide, usually pendent from the trunks of trees. 



15. ONOCLEA, L. 



Fertile fronds contracted, the pinnules strongly revolute and berry-like ; fruit- 

 dots on the back of the free veins, with an elevated receptacle ; indusium attached 

 partly to the receptacle and partly to the intervenular surface. Sterile fronds 

 foliaceous, much taller than the fertile ones. 



1. O. sensibilis, L. Sterile fronds on a long smooth stipe, broadly 

 deltoid-ovate, pinnatifid almost or quite to the rachis; the divisions lanceolate, 

 entire or crenately incised ; veins finely reticulated with oblong-hexagonal 

 areoles ; fertile fronds shorter, bipinnate ; pinnae erect, appressed to the rachis ; 

 the pinnules crowded. — Meadows and wet places, Florida to Mississippi, and 

 northward. — Rootstock nearly naked, creeping. Fronds varying from four 

 inches to three feet in height. 



16. WOODSIA, R. Brown. 



Fruit-dots on the back of the veins ; the involucres placed beneath the fruit- 

 dot, saucer-shaped or cup-shaped, divided into irregular lobes or a delicate 

 fringe, or sub-globose and contracted at the mouth. Small Ferns with many 

 fronds from a short scaly rootstock. 



* Involucre fringed, the hair-like divisions incurved on the sporangia. 



1. W. Ilvensis, R Brown. Fronds sparingly hairy above, villous be- 

 neath and on the stipe and rachis with brown hairs and narrow chaff, lanceolate, 

 pinnate; pinnae ovate-oblong, deeply pinnatifid, the divisions oblong, obtuse, 

 entire or crenate. Fruit-dots enveloped in the fringe of the involucre. — Rocks 

 along the Alleghany Mountains, and northward. — Fronds 3' -8' high. 



* * Involucre divided ini>> a Jew irregular loin*. 

 2 "W. obtusa, Torr. Fronds nearly smooth, broadly lanceolate, pinnate, 

 or near the rachis bipinnate; pinna' triangular-ovate, the lower ones distant, 



pinnately parted ; segments oblong, obtuse, the upper ones toothed, the lower 

 ones pinnatifid with toothed loins; veins forked, the tips whitish on the upper 

 surface of the frond ; fruit-dots ou the lobules ; involucre delicate, the lobes 



