6 OSMUNDACEAE. 
3. Osmunda Claytoniana I. Clayton’s 
Fern. (Fig. 10.) 
Osmunda Claytoniana I,. Sp. Pl. 1066. 1753. 
Osmunda interrupla Michx. F1. Bor. Am. 2: 273. 
1803. 
Rootstock stout, bearing a circle of 2-pinnat- 
ifid leaves 2°-6° high, 6/—10/ wide ; sterile pinnae 
without tufts of tomentum at the base, linear- 
lanceolate, deeply cleft into oblong obtuse seg- 
ments, some of the leaves contracted in the 
middle and bearing 2-5 pairs of fertile pinnate 
pinnae with dense, cylindric divisions which are 
greenish at first, afterwards dark brown, finally 
withering ; leavesclothed with tomentum when 
young, glabrous when mature, the fertile ones 
taller than the sterile, and finally widely re- 
curving. 
In swamps and moist soil, Newfoundland to Min- 
nesota south to North Carolina and Missouri. As- 
cends to 5000 ft. in Virginia. Also in India. May- 
July. 
Family 3. -HYMENOPHYLLACEAE Gaud. in Freyc. Voy. 262. 1826. 
FILMY-FERN FAMILY. 
Membranaceous, mostly small ferns with filiform or slender creeping root- 
stocks. Leaves usually much divided. Sporanges sessile on a filiform, usually 
elongated receptacle, surrounded by a transverse ring which opens vertically. 
Two genera, Hymenophvilum I,., and the following, comprising some 200 species, very abund- 
ant in tropical regions, a few occurring in the temperate zones. 
1. TRICHOMANES L. Sp. Pl. 1097. 1753. 
Delicate filmy ferns, the leaves usually much divided. Sporanges flattened, surrounded 
by a broad entire transverse ring opening vertically, sessile on the lower part of the slender 
filiform receptacle. Receptacle surrounded by a tubular or funnel-shaped indusium which 
is truncate or slightly 2-lipped. [Greek, in allusion to the thin hair-like segments of some 
species. ] 
About 100 species, mostly of tropical regions. Besides the following, another occurs in Alabama. 
1. Trichomanes radicans Sw. 
Bristle-fern. (Fig. 11.) 
Trichomanes radicans Sw. F\. Ind. Occ. 3: 1736. 
1806. 
Rootstock filiform, wiry, tomentose, creep- 
ing. Stipes (petioles) ascending, 1/-3/ 
long, naked or nearly so; leaves 2/-8S/ long, 
8’/-1'%%' wide, membranaceous, lanceolate 
or ovate-lanceolate, 2-3-pinnatifid; pinnae 
ovate, obtuse, the upper side of the cuneate 
base parallel with or appressed to the nar- 
rowly winged rachis; segments toothed or 
cut into linear divisions; indusia terminal 
on short lobes, 1-4 on a pinnule, the mouth 
slightly 2lipped; receptacle more or less 
exserted, bristle-like, bearing the sessile 
sporanges mostly near the base. 
On wet rocks, Kentucky to Florida and Ala. 
bama. Also in the West Indies, Mexico, trop- 
ical America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Summer, 
ee  ——————— 
