32 POLYPODIACEAE. 
16. NOTHOLAENA R. Br. Prodr. Fl. Noy. Holl. 1: 145: T8ro; 
Mostly small rock-loving ferns, with 1-3-pinnate or pinnatifid leaves and marginal 
roundish or oblong sori, which are at first distinct but soon confluent into a marrow band. 
Indusium none, but the sporanges are sometimes at first covered by the inflexed margin of 
the leaf. Veins free. Sporanges pedicelled, provided with a vertical transversely bursting 
ring. Lower surface of the leaf often covered with a white or yellow waxy powder, or in 
some species with a dense tomentum. ([Greek, in allusion to the woolly lower surfaces. ] 
About 4o species, of wide distribution, most numerous in America. Besides the following, 
some 13 others are found in the mountainous portions of the southwestern United States. 
1. Notholaena nivea dealbata 
(Pursh) Dayenp. Powdery 
Notholaena. (Fig. 70.) 
Cheilanthes dealbata Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 
671. 1814. 
Notholaena dealbata Kunze, Amer. Journ. Sci. 
(II.) 6:82. 1848. 
Notholaena nivea var. dealbata Davenp. Cat. 
Davenp. Herb. Suppl. 44. 1883. 
Rootstock short, chaffy with narrow 
brown scales. Stipes tufted, wiry, very 
slender, shining, dark brown, 1/-3/ long; 
leaves triangular-ovate in outline, acute, 
broadest at the base, 1’-4’ long, 3-4-pinnate, 
the rachis black and shining; pinnae 
ovate, the lower slender-stalked ; ultimate 
pinnules ovate or obovate, obtuse, lobed, 
crenate or entire, small, scarcely 1’’ long, 
white and powdery on the lower surface. 
On caleareous rocks, Missouri and Kansas 
to Arizona and Texas. June-Sept. The typ- 
ical form of the species occurs in the South- 
western States and in Central America. 
17, POLYPODIUM L. Sp. Pl. 1082. 1753. 
Pinnate or simple ferns with stipes articulated to the creeping rootstocks. Sori circular, 
dorsal, in one or more rows on either side of the midribs. Indusium none. Sporanges pedi- 
celled, provided with a vertical ring which bursts transversely. Veins variously arranged. 
{Greek, in allusion to the branched rootstocks of some species. ] 
About 350 species, of very wide geographic distribution, mostly of tropical regions. Besides 
the following, 5 occur in Florida, 1 in Arizona and 3 on the Pacific Coast. 
Lower surface of the leaf glabrous; plant green. 1. P. vulgare. 
Lower surface of the leaf densely scaly; plant grayish. 
1. Polypodium vulgare L. Com- 
mon Polypody. (Fig. 71.) 
Polypodium vulgare I, Sp. Pl. 1085. 1753. 
Rootstock slender, widely creeping, dense- 
ly covered with cinnamon-colored scales. 
Stipes light colored, glabrous, 2/-6’ long; 
leaves ovate-oblong or narrowly oblong in 
outline, subcoriaceous, evergreen, glabrous 
on both surfaces, 3’-10’ long, 1/-3’ wide, cut 
nearly to the rachis into entire or slightly 
toothed, obtuse or subacute, linear or linear- 
oblong segments; sori large, borne about 
midway between the midrib and margins of 
the segments; veins free. 
On rocks or rocky banks, almost throughout 
North America, Asia and Europe. Ascends to 
5600 ft. in Virginia. The leaf varies much in 
serration. Forms with the ends of the segments 
enlarged, somewhat palmately lobed, and the 
upper crested are known as var. crista/um. 
Forms with the segments broad and deeply pin- 
natifid are called var. Cambricum. Summer. 
