8'20 OIUJEU 160. FILICES. 



11. ADIAN'TUM L. MAIDEN-HAIR. (Gr. a, privative, dtaivu, to 

 moisten ; as the rain slides off without wetting it.) Sori oblong or 

 roundish, marginal ; indusia membranaceous, formed from the reflexed 

 margins of distinct portions of the frond and opening inwardly. Stipe 

 polished. Ultimate segments dimidiate, the midvein on the lower 

 margin. 



1 A. pedatum L. Frond pedate : divisions pinnate ; segments oblong-rhomboid, 

 incisely lobed on the upper side, obtuse at apex ; sori oblong, subulate. This is, 

 doubtless, the most beautiful of all our ferns, abounding in damp, rocky woods. 

 Stipe 8 14' high, slender, of a deep, glossy purple approaching to a jet-black. 

 At top it divides equally into 2 compound branches, each of which gives off, at 

 regular intervals, 6 8 simply pinnate leaflets from tho outer side, giving the 

 whole frond the form of the crescent. July. 



2 A. Curtisii, N. sp. (We saw specimens of a new Adiantum in the herbarium 

 of Rev. M. A. Curtis, from the Mts. of N. Car. But our notes are insufficient at 

 present for its proper diagnosis.) 



12. D1CKSO NIA L'Her. (In honor of James Dickson, a distinguished 

 English, cryptogamist.) Sori marginal, roundish, distinct, terminating 

 a vein ; indusium double, the proper one cup-shaped, opening outwards, 

 the other formed of a reflected lobule of the margin and opening inwards. 



D. pilosiuscula "Willd. FINE-HAIRED MOUNTAIN FERN. Frond bipinnate ; leaf- 

 lets lanceolate, sessile; segments pinnatifid, decurrent, oblong-ovate, ultimate 

 segments toothed ; stipe a little hairy. A large and delicate fern, in pastures, 

 roadsides, among rocks and stones. Fronds 2 3f high, in tufts, and remarkable 

 for their numerous divisions and subdivisions. Stipe and rachis smooth, with the 

 exception of a few, soft, scattered hairs. Leaflets alternate, approximate; seg- 

 ments deeply divided into 4-toothed, ultimate segments. Sori minute, solitary, on 

 the upper margin of the segments. July. (D. punctilobula, Hook.) 



13. WOODWAR'DIA, Sm. (To Thomas J. Woodward, an English 

 botanist.) Sori oblong, straight, parallel with, and close to the midvein, 

 on transverse, anastamosing vcinlets; indusia arising from the same 

 veinlet on the outer side, free and opening on the inner side towards 

 the midvein. Fronds pinnate or pinnatifid. 



1 W. onocleoides Willdv Fronds of two kinds; the sterile simply pinuatifid 

 pinnae, lanceolate, repand, slightly serrulate; fertile fronds pinnate, the pinnas 

 entire, linear, acute. In swamps, not common. Fern about a foot high, growing 

 in tufts. Barren fronds numerous, of a narrow-lanceolate, acuminate outline. 

 Leaflets with decurrent or confluent bases. Fertile fronds fewer, with linear 

 segments nearly covered on the back with the fruit in oblong, longitudinal sori ' 

 in length. Aug. (W. angustifolia Sm.) 



2 W. Virginica Willd. Fronds all similar, pinnate, very smooth, the leaflets pin- 

 natifld, lanceolate, sessile; sori in interrupted lines near the midvein of the leaflets 

 and oblong, obtusish segments. In low w r oods and swamps. Frond about 2f high, 

 on a smooth stipe, lanceolate in outline, and pale green. Leaflets alternate, deeply 

 pumatifid, with numerous, spreading, obtuse and slightly crenate lobes. Fruit 

 arranged in lines along each side of tho midveins, both of the segments and leaf- 

 lets. July, Aug. (Doodia, R. Br.) 



3 W. thelypteroides Ph. Fronds nearly similar, pinnate, the pinna sessile, villous 

 at base, linear-lanceolate, pinnatifid ; the segments in tho sterile fronds oblong, obtus- 

 ish, in the fertile short-triangular, acute, all entire; stipe pubescent, angular. Sandy 



' swamps, near Charleston, S. Car. Resembles the preceding but is not half its 

 ssize. Jl. (Pursh.) 



14. ASPLE'NIUM, L. SPLEENWOBT, (Gr. a, privative, cmvlr/v, the 

 spleen ; from its supposed medicinal virtues.) Sori linear, or linear- 

 oblong, separate, oblique to the midvein, arising with its indusium, from 



