CANADIAN PILICiNBiÊ. 207 



yoiing) with pale browu scales ; fronds bright greeu, erect, narrowly oblong-ovate, usually 

 12 to 15 inches long by 4 to *1 inches Avide, smooth, and bii^innate ; pinnœ short-stalked, 

 oblique to the rachis, elongated triangular, the lowest pair broadly triangular with the 

 inferior pinnules twice, or nearly twice, as long as the superior, the basal ones longest of 

 all; pinnules also obliquely set, connected by a A^ery narrow wing, oblong, sub-acute, 

 incised or pinuatifid ; lobes spinulosely toothed, especially at the apex ; indusia smooth, 

 and without marginal glands. 



Innumerable varieties and forms of this plant have been recorded and described, all 

 of which, however, are either monstrosities or can, without much straining, be referred 

 either to the typical form or the vars. intermedium and dilatntnm. 



Var. intermedium, D. C. Eaton, [A. intermedium, Willd., A. Americanitm, Davenport, Lastrea 

 intermedia, Presl.), has the scales few and tawny ; fronds dark green, oblong-ovate, broader 

 and often larger than in the typical plant, twice or often thrice pinnate, under surface mi- 

 nutely glandular ; pinnœ spreading, oblong-lanceolate, the lowest pair somewhat trian- 

 gular with the inferior pinnules moderately elongated, but the basal ones a little shorter 

 than the next ; pinnules also spreading, ovate-oblong, acutish, pinnatifid or pinnate ; 

 ultimate segments oblong-ovate, obtuse, and spinulosely toothed on both sides and apex ; 

 margin and often the surface of the indusia covered with stalked glands. 



Var. dilatatum, Horneman, (A. dilatatum, Swz., Lastrea dilatata, Presl., NepJirodium dila- 

 tatum, DesA''.), has the scales large and brown, often with a darker centre ; fronds Aa^ry dark 

 green, broadly ovate or triangular-ovate, usually much exceeding, especially in breadth, 

 the other forms, thrice pinnate ; pinnœ spreading, broadly triangular with the inferior 

 pinniiles much longer than the superior, the basal ones on the lower side longer than the 

 next but on the upper side usually shorter than those next them ; pinnules lance-oblong 

 and deeply pinuatifid ; ultimate segments oblong and toothed ; indusia smooth. A dwarf 

 state of this variety is A^ar. dumetoruvi, which fruits freely when 5 to 8 inches high, and 

 has compact bipinnate fronds, Avith the inferior basal pinnules but little elongated. 



Numerous other sub-varieties of A. spimdosum have been noted, including A^ar. obliquum, 

 which is a rather rigid, more than usually chatfy form of the typical plant, with pinnse 

 and pinnules obliquely set, and A^ar. recurvatum, which shows a recurved convex growth 

 of the frond, pinnse and pinnules. A British Columbian plant from VancouA^er Island is 

 much laxer than common, and has the pinnœ, pinnules and segments more distant, taper- 

 ing and acuminate ; the pinnules, too, are narrower throughout, and the whole fern is 

 more rigid than is usually seen. Occasionally specimens are found with glands scattered 

 over the upper as well as the under siirface of the fronds, and bifurcating and crested 

 forms occur both in the species proper and in its varieties. 



Under its various forms this species crosses the continent, and is known, to range 

 northward to Alaska and beyond the Peace and Churchill Kivers. Occurring in the 

 wooded districts of all the Provinces, in some places, notably the Island of Anticosti, 

 Eastern Quebec, and to the west of Lake Superior, it forms almost the whole undergrowth, 

 The typical plant is probably the least common form with us, but has been seen in Nova 

 Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, and, according to Prof Eaton, about Lake Su* 

 perior and westward to British Columbia. Vars. intermedium and dilatatum also extend 

 from the Atlantic through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, but while the former, 

 which loA^es drier woods than the normal form, is par excellence the usual form in Eastern 



