36 



FERN FAMILY 



9. WOODWARDIA. Chain-fern. 

 1. W. radicans Sm. Great Chain-fer^n. Stalks stout, 8 to 

 12 in. long. Fronds 3 to 6 ft. or more long, oblong-ovate, 

 simply pinnate; pinnae 4 to 15 in. long, broadly lanceolate in 

 outline and cut pinnately almost to the midrib; segments 

 slightly scolloped and minutely toothed. Sori oblong-linear, 

 in cavities, in a chain each side of the midvein of the seg- 

 ments; indusium fixed by its outer margin to the fertile vein- 

 let and covering the cavity as a lid. 



The Great Chain-fern is one of the largest and perhaps the 

 most magnificent of our ferns. As one travels from El Portal 

 into the Yosemite Valley he may see it at the roadside near 

 the Cascades growing in stately groups of from 5 to 20 fronds. 

 It may be expected along living streams at low altitudes 

 though it is more abundant in the Coast Ranges than in the 

 Sierra Nevada. A dwarfed form, 18 in. or less high, grows 

 at the upper end of Yosemite Valley, about 300 ft. above the 

 floor. Mr. S. H. Burnham reports having seen such a form 

 on the trail to Yosemite Point. Specimens of this form col- 

 lected by us are in fine fruit, nearly every pinna being rich 

 in sori along its midvein as well as on its segments. 



10. ASPLENIUM. Spleenwort. 



1. A. filix-femina Bern. Lady-fern. Stalks a few to 18 in. 

 long, stout, sometimes reddish, dark and chaffy at base. 

 Fronds 1 to 5 ft. long, 3 to 18 in. broad, thin and soft, oblong- 

 lanceolate, sharply tipped, narrowed at the base, 2 to 3-pin- 

 nate; segments obtuse or sharply pointed, toothed and lobed, 

 sometimes cut almost to the midrib. Sori oblong or linear, 

 oblique to the midrib; indusium straight or curved, attached 

 by one side to the fertile free veinlet. (Athyrium filix-femina 

 Roth.) 



The Lady-fern grows in beautiful, green, vase-like groups, 



