CHAPTER XI. 



MALE FEKN, LYCOPODIUM, SELAOINELLA. 

 MALE FERN (LASTKEA FILIX-MAS). 



480. Male Shield Fern (Lastrea filix-mas) is com- 

 mon in wood sand hedgerows, and is easily distinguished 

 from other woodland Ferns by its robust growth, massive 

 rhizome, its rosette of large compound leaves, and the 

 kidney-shaped scales (indusia) scattered on the underside 

 of the leaf. Examine the plant at different times of the 

 year. 



481. General Characters of Sporophyte. The short 

 and stout rhizome, obliquely ascending or nearly erect, is 

 covered by the leaves and the remains of leaves, and also 

 by the numerous roots, so that the actual stem- surf ace 

 cannot be seen. Starting from the oldest part of the plant, 

 note the following general characters : 



(a) The crowded leaf-bases the stumpy remains of 

 the leaves of former years covered by brown scale-hairs 

 (ramenta) ; the leaves die down in autumn, but are not 

 cut off by an absciss layer, hence their withered and 

 hardened bases remain on the stem. 



(b) The mature leaves of the current year, pinnately 

 compound, each consisting of a main leaf- stalk with two 

 ridges along its sides, and numerous leaflets given off by 

 the main stalk in two lateral rows corresponding to the 

 ridges. The leaflets are again divided more or less deeply 

 into lobes with toothed edges ; each lobe has a midrib, 

 giving off finer veins which undergo repeated forking and 



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