LOMARIA SPICANT. NORTHERN HARD-FERN. S^ 



It may be remarked here that the difference in size and 

 appearance between the barren fronds and the fertile (see Fig. 

 2 in our plate) — the dimorphous character referred to by Sir 

 W. J. Hooker— is now regarded as one of the chief character- 

 istics of the genus ; for in Blechuiin all the fronds are alike, those 

 which bear fruit as well as the barren ones. Still there is a dif- 

 ference in the position of the sori and involucre in the mature 

 frond, which is thus described by Prof. Eaton in the work above 

 cited: "Sori in a continuous band next the midrib of the con- 

 tracted pinnae of the fertile frond, covered till mature by an 

 elongated involucre, either formed of the recurved or altered 

 margin of the pinnae, or else sub-marginal and parallel tc the 

 margin ;" and he adds: "It is closely connected with BlccJimim, 

 which has the involucre remote from the margin." In order to 

 make this point clear, as described by Prof Eaton, we have had 

 the enlarged Fig, 3, which shows the fringe-like involucre 

 attached near the edge of the pinnae, that is to say, "sub- 

 marginal," and which is turned up in the lower edge to show the 

 sori beneath. This illustration also shows the character which 

 suggested the name Lomaria to Willdenow, its author, which is 

 derived from lonia, a Greek word, meaning the fringe or border- 

 ing along the edge of a lady's garment. 



In our time the study of a fern is not complete without an 

 examination of its veins, for, though their characters are not 

 wholly constant, there is as much stability in them as in most 

 other parts of the structure. Of Lomaria, Prof Eaton says, 

 "veins of the sterile frond oblique to the midrib, simple or forked 

 and free." To aid the student we give in Fig. 4 an illustration 

 of this character. It will be noted in addition to the obliquity of 

 the veins to the midrib, the secondary, or upper forking, is rather 

 more curved at the base or cup-like than the lower ones. 



Lomaj'ia Spicaiit is regarded as a very variable fern, but the 

 variations are chiefly in its size. In California and Oregon the 

 fronds are often two feet long ; while the Alaska specimens of 

 Prof. Rothrock are like that illustrated in our plate, and which is 



