POLYPODIUM CALIFORNICUM. 



CALIFORNIAN POLYPODY. 



NATURAL ORDER, FILICES. 



POLYPODIUM CALIFORNICUM, Kaulfuss. — Fronds deeply pinnatifid ; segments oblong, ietu«e, 

 sharply serrate, the inferior ones narrower towards the base, decurrent ; veins ol)lique 

 parallel; veinlets dicholomous, anastomosing; sori ovate, solitary. (Kaulfuss in Enu- 

 nieratio Filicuiii qiias in itinere circa terrain legit cl. Adelbertits de Chamisso, etc.) 



S none of our popular botanical text-books contain any 

 description of this pretty fern, we have translated the 

 original descripdon of the species as given by Dr. Frederick 

 Kaulfuss in the work above referred to. Chamisso accompa- 

 nied the navigator Kotzebue in his celebrated voyage ; and Kaul- 

 fuss, who was professor of botany in the celebrated German 

 University of Halle, described and remarked on the ferns his 

 friend collected. According to Kaulfuss, Chamisso simply gives 

 " California " as its location, but it is found much farther north, 

 as specimens from which our drawing was made were gathered 

 for us near the Falls of the Wilhamette by Mrs. Fanny E. 

 Briggs, who thus graphically describes the spot from whence 

 they came: "Oregon City, one of the oldest towns in the State, 

 is the most picturesque in situation I have yet met with. Here 

 are the Falls of the Wilhamette, and a line of high rocky bluffs 

 rise abrupdy, leaving only a narrow strip of level ground along 

 the river. The railroad is built on this. The town is wholly 

 on the bluffs, and is reached by long flights of stairs, some of the 

 steps set zigzag in upright frames. The town is neat and pretty, 

 with gardens, shade and fruit trees in abundance. The rocky 

 face of the bluff is covered by mosses, ferns and vines, and two or 

 three little silver ribbon-like mountain streams leap sparklingly 



3 (3.1) 



