82 ASPIDIUM FRAGRANS. SWEET SIIIELD-FERN. 



esting- to him at all seasons, for a fertile plant will frequently fur- 

 nish specimens "in fruit" during- most of the summer season, 

 and in some cases long after the wild woods have lost their 

 autumn foliage, and present in the language of the poet Winter — 



" Bare, ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang," 



may the botanical inquirer find all he wants to know in the 

 lingering fronds of some hardy fern. 



Our present species, Aspidnim fragj'ans, is particularly rich in 

 lessons, both as to its historical relationships and in the many 

 points which are essentially its own. Until comparatively recent 

 times It was supposed to be wholly an Old World fern. It has 

 been long known to European botanists, and was described by 

 Linnasus now much over a century ago as Polypodium fragrans. 

 It was first found in the United States by Dr. C. C. Parry, the 

 botanist attached to Owen's Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa 

 and Minnesota in 1852. In the Report of this Survey, Dr. Parry 

 says he found this fern on the Trap Rocks, near the Falls of St. 

 Croix, and he remarks " the whole fern is beset with fragrant 

 olandular hairs. It oi'ows in dense tufts, in the shaded crevices 

 of trap rocks, with the withered remains of several years' growth 

 still adhering. The fronds are of a deep green color above, 

 paler below, four to nine inches high. The aroma is permanent 

 and agreeable. I am informed by Dr. Torrey that this species 

 has never before been found within the limits of the United 

 States, but has been obtained In British America and Kam- 

 schatka, where It Is used for making tea. In the locality here 

 specified, it is quite abundant." Since 1852 it has been found in 

 many other parts of the Union bounding the Canadian territory, 

 as for instance In Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New 

 York. New locadons are occasionally yet found for it, and the 

 possibility of finding it where It has never been met with before 

 gives zest to the plant collector who may be on botanical excur- 

 sions through the Northern States. The natural situation where 

 it may be found is well suggested In the extract from Dr. 



