FERN FAMILY. 2I 
8. SCOLOPENDRIUM Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 20. 1763. 
Large ferns with oblong or strap-shaped mostly entire leaves, and linear elongated sori 
which are almost at right angles to the midrib and contiguous in pairs, one on the upper 
side of a veinlet, the other on the lower side of the next contiguous veinlet, thus appearing 
to have a double indusium opening longitudinally along its middle. Sporanges pedicelled, 
the ring vertical, bursting transversely. [Greek, in allusion to the centipede, Sco/opendra. ] 
Five species, mainly of temperate regions. Only the following is known to occur in North 
America. 
1. Scolopendrium Scolopéndrium 
(L,.) Karst. Hart’s-tongue. (Fig. 44.) 
Asplenium Scolopendrium U,. Sp. Pl. 1079. 1753- 
Scolopendrium vulgare J. E. Smith, Mem. 
Acad. Tor. 5: 421. 1793. 
Scolopendrium Scolopendrium Karst. Deutsch. 
Fl. 278. 1880-83. 
Rootstock short, erect or ascending, chaffy 
with light brown scales. Stipes 2-6’ long, 
fibrillose-chaffy below or sometimes up to 
the base of the leaf; leaves simple, bright 
green, firm, 7’-18’ long, 1/-2'%4’ wide, cor- 
date at the base, the margins entire or un- 
dulate, the lower surface of the midrib some- 
times chaffy; pairs of sori distinct, 2//-7// 
long ; conspicuous on the lower surface, the 
sporanges dark brown at maturity; veins 
free, usually once forked near the midrib. 
On shaded cliffs of the corniferous limestone, 
Chittenango Falls and Jamesville, N. Y.; near 
South Pittsburg, Tenn.; Owen Sound, Ont., 
New Brunswick and Mexico. Widely distrib- 
uted in Europe, Asia and Africa. Very variable 
in form in the Old World. 
9. CAMPTOSORUS Link, Hort. Berol. 2: 69. 1833. 
Slender ferns with tapering simple entire or undulate leaves, bearing linear or oblong 
sori several times longer than broad, irregularly scattered on either side of the reticulate 
veins or sometimes crossing them, partly parallel to the midrib and partly oblique to it, the 
outer ones more or less approximate in pairs. Indusium membranous. Sporanges pedi- 
celled, provided with a vertical ring which opens transversely. [Greek, referring to the 
bent or curved sori. ] 
Two species, the following of eastern North America, the other of northern Asia. 
1. Camptosorus rhizophyllus (L,.) 
Link. Walking-fern. (Fig. 45.) 
Asplenium rhizophylla \,. Sp. Pl. 1078. 1753. 
eae ead rhizophyllus Link, Hort. Berol. 2: 
33: 
Rootstock short, usually creeping, somewhat 
chaffy. Stipes light green, 1/-6’ long, tufted, 
spreading; leaves rather thin, lanceolate, sim- 
ple, long-acuminate at the apex, cordate, has- 
tate or rarely narrowed at the base, 4/-9’ long, 
sometimes with a more or less elongated pair 
of basal auricles ; tip of the leaf and sometimes 
the tip of one or both of the basal auricles root- 
ing and forming a new plant by the ultimate 
withering away of its tissue, but commonly 
two or sometimes as many as four plants are 
found connected; sori usually numerous, very 
irregularly scattered on the lower surface. 
On dry rocks, preferring limestone, Quebec to 
Ontario and Minnesota, south to North Carolina 
and Kansas. Ascends to 2500 ft. in Virginia. 
Aug.-Oct. 
