22 POLYPODIACEAE (FERN FAMILY) 



1. Woodsia scopulina D. C. Eat. Can. Nat. 2: 90. 1865. Fronds 1-2 dm. 

 long, puberulent beneath with minute jointed hairs and stalked glands, oblong- 

 ovate and crenulate: indusia deeply cleft into narrow segments terminating in 

 jointed hairs. In dense masses on rocks and in crevices; Minnesota to Cali- 

 fornia, south in the mountains to Colorado. 



2. Woodsia oregana D. C. Eat. 1. c. Very similar, but with smooth fronds, 

 the fertile taller than the sterile: the indusium reduced to a few moniliform 

 hairs. From Arizona and Colorado to British Columbia and Lake Superior. 



13. ASPLENIUM L. SPLEENWORT 



Plants very variable in size, with simple pinnate, 2-3-pinnate, or pinnatifid 

 leaves. Sori oblong or linear, borne on veins more or less oblique to the 

 rachis or the midrib, not confluent. Indusium straight or sometimes 

 curved, opening toward the midrib when single (sometimes double). Veins 

 free. 



Fronds simply pinnate. 



Pinnae 12-30 pairs, oval, ovate, or rhomboidal, obtuse. 



Rachis purple-brown . . . . . . . 1. A. trichomanes. 



Rachis green . . 2. A. viride. 



Pinnae only 2-5, linear-cuneate . . . . . . . 3. A. septentrionale. 



Fronds 2-3-pinnate or pinnatifid. 



Fronds 3-10 cm. long, terriate and bipinnate . . . . 4. A. Andrewsii. 



Fronds 2-4 dm. long, bipinnate . . . . . . . 5. A. Filix-femina. 



1. Asplenium trichomanes L. Sp. PL 1080. 1753. Fronds 1-2 dm. long, 

 narrow, simply pinnate, with 15-30 pairs of subsessile, roundish-oval, or oval- 

 oblong pinnae; these obtusely cuneate or truncate at base, entire or crenu- 

 late, rarely slightly incised, falling separately from the persistent rachis: stipes 

 purple-brown, shining. Colorado, Wyoming, and across the continent. 



2. Asplenium viride Huds. Fl. Angl. 385. 1762. Stipes densely tufted, 

 5-10 cm. long, naked, the lower part chestnut-brown, merging into the green 

 of the rachis: fronds narrow, 5-15 cm. long, with 12-20 pairs of ovate or 

 rhomboidal pinnae; these obliquely truncate at base and crenate on the outer 

 edge: rachis naked: sori numerous. Idaho, northern Wyoming, and across 

 the continent. 



3. Asplenium septentrionale (L.) Hoffm. Deutsch. Fl. 2: 12. 1795. Stipes 

 densely tufted, 8-15 cm. long, slender, naked, ebeneous toward the base: 

 fronds irregularly forking, consisting of 2-5 narrowly linear-cuneate rather 

 rigid segments, which are entire or sometimes cleft at the ends into a few 

 narrow teeth: sori elongated, placed near the margin, usually facing each other 

 in pairs, commonly only 2 or 3 to each segment. Acrapteris septentrionale 

 (L.) Link. In clefts in exposed rocks; southern Wyoming to New Mexico and 

 Arizona. 



4. Asplenium Andrewsii A. Nels. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 17: 174. 1904. 

 Rootstock enveloped in matted roofs: stipes few to several, ebeneous below, 

 passing into the green of the rachis: frond thin-herbaceous, deltoid-ovate, often 

 ternate ; pinnae lanceolate, tapering gradually into the pinnatifid tip ; pinnules 

 ovate-lanceolate, sharply incised and somewhat incisely serrate: sori short but 

 almost connecting with those in the successive lobes, forming nearly a contin- 

 uous sorus from the base to the apex of the pinnule : indusium straight, finally 

 forced back and concealed by the sporangia. Type locality, sandstone cliff, 

 Boulder Canon, Colorado. 



5. Asplenium Filix-femina (L.) Bernh. Schrad. Neues Journ. Bot. ] : 26. 

 1806. Fronds 3-8 dm. long: delicate and softly membranaceous, oblong- 

 lanceolate, 2-3-pinnate; pinnules adnate to the secondary rachis, ovate to 

 elongated-lanceolate, variously toothed or incised : indusia more or less curved, 

 often crossing the fertile veinlet and continued a short distance down the 

 other side of it, lacerate-ciliate. LADY FERN. Widely distributed; not rare 

 in our range. 



