SLENDER CLIFF BRAKE 



Cry^togramma stelleri (Gmel.) Prantl. 



LEAVES totK fertile and sterile, the two kinds unlike, 

 but ^vltK transitional forms, variable. Blades yellow- 

 isn, small and delicate, tnm, veiny, compound, from long', 

 f lender straw-colored or brown stalks wnicn grow in clusters 

 from a tkin rootstock. Blades of sterile fronds about tw^o 

 inches long, broadly ovate; pinnae about seven, oblong to tri- 

 angular, broad, tKe upper confluent witk tke stem, tke lower 

 more or less completely divided. Pinnules three to five, 

 witn triangular bases and variously cut and scalloped tops. 

 Fertile fronds larger, the pinnae more numerous, all but the 

 uppermost more or less completely divided into oblong pinnae. 

 Son marginal, nearly the entire edge of the blades reflexed 

 to form the conspicuous indusia. 



Like its relative, the purple cliff brake, this fern is 

 more often found in limestone regions, but its habits are en- 

 tirely different. It is rare in the Wisconsin Dells, and one 

 of the most delicate, as it is one of the smallest species. It 

 grows in the crevices of wet rocks which are well shaded by 

 overhanging ledges. 



/\ii,'t' Twenl\-»ne 



