Specimen page of Plues' Ferns. 

 POLYPODIUM. 



Ill 



POLYPODIUM. 



Oen. Char. " Sori dorsal, subglobose or oval, destitute of 

 involucre. Veins free (as in all the British species) or anasto- 

 mosing." — Sir W. HooJcer. 



2. Polypodium vulgare, L. Common Polypody. 



Caudex stout, widely creeping, scaly. Fronds ovate-oblong. 

 Sori round, placed in a row on eitlier side the mid-vein. 



The name of this v^'^ell-known fern is formed from two. 

 Greek words, iwlys, many, and pous, podos, a foot ; and 

 is applicable because of the many rootlets thrown out 

 from the caudex. 



The form of the frond is very variable, — we sometimes 

 find it eighteen inches long, 



'^- 



while the plants that grow on 

 old vp^alls have often fronds 

 not more than three inches || 

 in length. The caudex creeps ; 

 horizontally, becoming inter- 

 laced and matted when left 

 long undisturbed, and densely 

 clothed with narrow, glossy 

 brown scales. The frond is 

 pinnate, the pinnae nearly 

 equal, opposite, and slightly 

 waved or jagged at the mar- 

 gin. Each pinna has a mid- 

 vein, from which branches 

 issue, and the fructification is 

 situated at the point of the side veins. 



Common as this fern is, and familiar to every one 

 who has eyes to see with, it never fails to be noticed 

 witb favour. Lending to the decaying trunk a new 



