IN CALIFORNIA 179 



stichum munitum. It is for the reader to take his 

 choice. The resemblance of the plant to the well- 

 known Christmas fern (Aspidium acrostichoides) , 

 of the East, used extensively by florists there for 

 winter greenery, makes it easily recognizable. It 

 has a marked preference for slopes to grow on, and 

 it is on stony mountain sides under the shadow of 

 oaks or conifers, at altitudes up to five thousand 

 feet, that one usually comes upon it. In the red- 

 wood forests, when it finds itself in some nook where 

 a happy combination of moisture, shade and soil 

 makes an ideal dwelling place for it, it has been re- 

 ported to attain a height of five feet. That is ex- 

 ceptional, however; more often, the fronds do not 

 exceed two or three feet including the stipe. Pro- 

 fessor Daniel C. Eaton, author of "Ferns of North 

 America," has suggested as a common name 

 "Chamisso's Shield-fern," in commemoration of 

 its discoverer, which, if common names came by ex- 

 pert suggestion, would be a very sensible one. 

 Shield-fern is because of the round, shield-like cov- 

 ering that protects the spore dots, and which any 

 one can see by turning over the tip of a frond. Fre- 

 quently associated with Chamisso's Shield-fern is 

 another, Aspidium rigidum argutum, the fronds 

 thinner in texture and rather triangular in outline. 

 In the home remedies of the Spanish-Californians, 



