12 POLYPODIACEAE 



their outer margins. Veins forming a single line of areolae next the midrib, then free to 

 the margin. 



1. Anchistea Virginica (L.) Presl. Kootstock stout, chaffy. Petioles stout, 3-4.5 

 dm. long, nearly or quite naked, dark-colored below ; leaf-blades oblong-lanceolate, acute, 

 narrowed at the base, 3-6 dm. long, 15-22 cm. wide, pinnate ; leaflets linear-lanceolate, 

 usually alternate, or some of them opposite, leathery, glabrous, acuminate, sessile, 7-15 

 cm. long, deeply pinnatifid into ovate or oblong obtuse segments, their margins minutely 

 serrulate. [Woodwardia Virginica (L. ) J. E. Smith.] 



In swamps and meadows, Nova Scotia to Ontario, Michigan, Florida, Louisiana and Arkansas. 



16. ASPLENIUM L. 



Plants various in habit and habitat. Leaves tufted: blades entire, lobed, pinnatifid 

 or 1-3-pinnate, mostly uniform. Sori linear or oblong, oblique to the midrib or rachis. 

 Veins free. Indusia straight or curved, opening towards the midrib when single. SPLEE&- 

 WORT. 



Sori straight or rarely slightly curved, attached to the upper side of a vein. 



Leaves with simple crenulate or serrulate blades : plants 4-7 dm. tall. 1. A. serratum. 



Leaves with pinnatifid or pinnate blades. 

 Leaf-blades pinnatifid or pinnate. 



Leaf-blades pinnatifid, or pinnate merely below. 



Petioles green above, blackish below : leaf-lobes normally rounded. 2. A. pinnatifidum. 

 Petioles black throughout : leaf-lobes normally acuminate. 3. A.ebenoides. 



Leaf-blades pinnate. 



Leaflets 0.7-3 cm. long, mostly blunt. 

 Rachis chestnut-brown or blackish. 



Leaflets auricled at the upper side of the base. 



Leaflets opposite, oblong : rachis dark brown or black. 4. A. resUiens. 



Leaflets partly alternate, lanceolate : rachis chestnut-brown. 5. A.platynenron. 

 Leaflets not auricled. 6. A. Trichomanes. 



Rachis green : leaflets not auricled, crenate. 7. A. dentatum. 



Leaflets 4-12 cm. long : acute or acuminate. 



Leaf-blades 7-9 dm. long. 8. A. angitsftfolium. 



Leaf-blades 2.5-5 dm. long. 9. A.firmum. 



Leaf-blades 2-3-pinnatifid : 

 Texture leathery. 



Petioles green : leaf-blades rhombic or obovate, the veins flabellate. 10. A. Rutn-mararia. 

 Petioles dark below : leaf-blades ovate-lanceolate. 11. A. montanum, 



Texture herbaceous or membranous. 



Petioles and the lower part of the rachis chestnut-brown. J.2. A. Bradleyi. 



Petioles green or greenish. 



Leaf-segments linear or oblong, narrow. 13. A. cicutarium. 



Leaf-segments rounded, entire or 2-3-lobed. 14. A. myriophyllum, 



Sori more or less curved, sometimes horseshoe-shaped, often crossing to the outer 



or lower side of the veinlet : large plants. 



Leaf-blades 2-pinnatifid ; segments blunt, scarcely crenate. 15. A. acrontichmdes. 



Leaf-blades 2-pinnate ; leaflets acute, toothed or pinnatifid. 16. A. Filix-foemina. 



1. Asplenium serratum L. Leaves in a crown from a stout erect rootstock ; blades 

 spatulate or linear-oblanceolate, 4-7 dm. long, crenulate or irregularly serrulate, somewhat 

 leathery ; midrib keeled and often blackish purple beneath ; veins free, approximate, once- 

 forked : sori elongated, following the veins of the upper half of the blade from near the 

 midrib half way to the margins : indusia single, the free edge entire. 



In swamps, peninsular Florida. Also in tropical America. 



2. Asplenium pirmatifidum Nutt. Kootstock short, chaffy. Leaves tufted ; petioles 

 polished, blackish below, green above, 5-12 cm. long, somewhat chaffy below, at least when 

 young ; blades broadly lanceolate in outline, 7-25 cm. long, firm, tapering upward to a long 

 narrow tip, pinnatifid or the lower parts pinnate ; lowest segments, or occasionally several 

 pairs, sometimes tapering to a point like that of the apex of the leaf. 



On rocks, New Jersey to Illinois and Arkansas, and in the mountains to Georgia. 



3. Asplenium ebenoides K. R. Scott. Kootstock short, chaffy. Leaves tufted ; 

 petioles blackish, 4-10 cm. long ; blades lanceolate, variable, 8-25 cm. long, firm, tapering 

 to a very long narrow acuminate apex, pinnatifid, or commonly pinnate below, the seg- 

 ments lanceolate from a broad base, acute or acuminate, irregular, the lower sometimes 

 shorter than those just above : sori several on each segment, straight or slightly curved. 



On limestone, Connecticut to Indiana and Alabama. Rare, except at a single locality in Alabama. 



4. Asplenium resiliens Kunze. Kootstock short, with black stiff scales. Leaves 

 tufted ; petioles blackish and shining, 2.5-5 cm. long ; blades rather firm, linear-oblong or 

 linear-oblanceolate, 7-25 cm. long, 1-pinnate ; leaflets 4-12 mm. long, mostly opposite, 

 oblong, obtuse, entire or crenulate, auricled on the upper side and nearly sessile, the middle 

 ones the longest, the lower gradually shorter and reflexed : rachis dark brown or black : 



