POLYFODIACEAE (FERN FAMILY^) 35 



2. PHEG6PTERIS (Presl) Fe"e. BEECH FERN 



Fruit dots small, round, naked (no indusium), borne on the back of the veins 

 below the apex. Stipe continuous with the rootstock. Our species have free 

 veins and bright green miMiibranaceous fronds, decaying in early autumn. 

 (Name composed of #77765, an oak or beech, and Trrfyts, fern.) 



* Fronds twice pinnatiftd ; pinnae all sessile, adnate to the winged rhachis. 



1. P. polypodioides Fee. Fronds triangular, longer than broad (8-20 cm. 

 long), hairy on the veins, especially beneath ; pinnae linear-lanceolate, the 

 lowest pair deflexed and standing forward ; their divisions oblong, obtuse, entire, 

 the basal decunent upon the main rhachis ; fruit dots all near the, margin. (P. 

 I'tn-tjopteris Underw.) Damp woods, Nfd. to N. Y., " Va.," Wise., la., Wash., 

 and Alaska. (Eurasia.) 



2. P. hexagontiptera (Michx.) F6e. Fronds triangular, usually broader than 

 long (14-80 cm. broad), slightly pubescent and often finely glandular beneath-. 

 pinnae lanceolate ; upper segments oblong, obtuse, toothed or entire, those of the 

 very large lowest pinnae often elongated and pinnately lobed, basal ones very 

 ainch decurrent and forming a continuous many-angled wing along the main 

 rhachis ; fruit dots near the margin ; some also between the sinus and the mid- 

 rib. Rather open woods, centr. Me. to w. Que., w. to Minn., and southw. ; 

 common. Larger and broader than the last, which it often closely resembles. 



* * Fronds ternate, the three divisions petioled ; rhachis wingless. 



3. P. Dfy6pteris (L.) Fe"e. (OAK FERN.) Fronds smooth, broadly triangular 



dm. wide), the three triangular primary divisions all widely spreading, 

 l-l'-yinnate ; segments oblong, obtuse, entire or toothed; fruit dots near the 



in. Rocky woods ; common northw. (Eurasia.) 



t. P. Robertiana (Hoffm.) A. Br. Fronds minutely glandular and some- 

 dull green ; lowest inferior pinnae of the lateral divisions smaller in 

 than in the last species. (P. calcarea Fe"e.) Shaded limestone, 

 " Lab." and Anticosti to N. B., la., and Alan. ; rare. (Eu.) 



3. NOTHOLAENA R. Br. CLOAK FERN 



Fruit dots roundish or oblong, placed near the ends of the veins, soon more 



or less confluent into an irregular marginal band, with no proper involucre. 



always free. Fronds of small size, 1-4-pinnate, the lower surface almost 



- either hairy, tomentose, chaffy, or covered with a fine waxy white or 

 yllow powder. (Name from v66os, spurious, and Xami, a cloak, the woolly 



riginal species forming a spurious covering to the sporangia.) 

 1 N. dealbata (Pursh) Kunze. Fronds triangular-ovate, 3-8 cm. long, 

 3-4-pinnatf ; rhachis and branches straight, black and shining ; ultimate pin- 

 oblong, scarcely 2 mm. long, white and powdery on the lower surface, 

 var. Davenp.) Clefts of dry calcareous rocks, Mo., Kan., and 

 southwestw. July, August. 



4. ADlANTUM [Tourn.] L. MAIDENHAIR 



Fruit dots marginal, short, borne on the under side of a transversely oblong, 



or roundish, more or less altered margin of a lobe of the frond 



an indusium ; the sporangia attached to the approximated tips 



free forking veins. Main rib (costa) of the pinnules none (in our species) 



<wer margin. Stipes black and polished. (The ancient name, from 



a- privative and itaiiw, meaning itmcetted, the foliage repelling rain-di 



1. A. pedlttum L. Frond forked at the summit of the upright slender stalk 



(2-"> dm. high), the recurved branches bearing on one side several slender 



te divisions ; pinnules numerous, short-stalked and obliquely 



,', entire on the lower margin, from which the vines all proceed, 



and cleft and fruit-bearing on the other. Rich moist woods. July. 



