164 POLYPODIUM VULGARE. COMMON POLYPODY. 



that the plant has all the benefit to be reaped from an increase 

 by spores. Few other plants have made their way more easily 

 over the world ; and if we admit its varying forms to be really 

 the same species, we shall find the Common Polypody in most 

 parts of Europe, in Algiers, Madeira, and the Canary Islands, 

 in Japan and China, and in other parts of Northern Asia. On 

 our own continent it is found in Greenland, across the whole of 

 Canada, and throughout the greater part of the United States 

 as far west as the Rocky Mountains, and even beyond, in Utah. 

 In the South, according to Dr. Chapman, in the second edition 

 of his " Flora," it finds its limit in the mountains of North 

 Carolina; but it also occurs in Mexico, and in the West India 

 Islands. In California, according to Mr. Watson, it has not yet 

 been found in its true or typical form. Of special localities, 

 Grayson County, Kentucky, is mentioned by Mr. C. C. Haskins, 

 and Lexington, in the same state, by Mr. J. Williamson. In 

 the dells of the Wisconsin it is very common, according to Mr. 

 Copeland. This wide distribution of our species shows that the 

 methods adopted for its propagation by Nature have given very 

 satisfactory results. The plant loves rocks and trees, and is 

 found more frequently on the latter, and on old stumps and 

 logs, as we go northward. 



Our drawing was made from a specimen gathered from a 

 tree in Massachusetts. In rocky situations in Pennsylvania the 

 fronds are shorter, and their upper surfaces are of a deeper 

 green. Our artist has made a very pretty picture of the plant, 

 while at the same time he has kept in view the presentation of 

 every important botanical character. 



This species is very generally known as the Common Poly- 

 pody, and in our large cities, to which the fronds are brought 

 in large quantities in winter, for use in cut-flower work, it is 

 also frequently called " Evergreen Fern," although there are 

 several other ferns to which this name is also mven. 



