SILVERY SPLEENWORT 



Asplenium acrostrictioiaes Sw. 



T ARGE oblong' leaves, tapering at both ends, compound. 

 -■— ' Pinnae numerous, widely separated, linear, tapering" to 

 a slender apex, cut almost to tne midriD into many oblong' 

 blunt segments, sligfntly tootned. Son oblong, largfe, three to 

 SIX pairs closely and regularly packed on eitner side or tbe 

 midrib, ocupying most or tne under side or the blades, cov- 

 ered wKen young with silvery indusia. Many leaves sterile. 

 Blades dark, ratner delicate, slig'htly bairy, becoming coarser, 

 erect and more heavily fruited in sunny places. Stems 

 sligbtly cnarry, straws-colored, from thick, creeping' rootstocks, 

 tne entire fronds one to two feet long', forming nearly circu- 

 lar clumps. 



Groups of tbis fern are rather common in the ricb, 

 moist woods forming tbe slopes of tbe larg'e ravines; it is 

 often associated -witb tbe lady fern and tbe wood ferns, wbicb 

 it somewhat resembles. ibe mdusia remaining silvery- 

 w^hite till mid-summer give tbe characteristic appearance to 

 tbe back of tbe fern w^bicb bas suggested tbe common name; 

 later tbe leaves become brow^n and scraggy. 



D. H. HILL LIBRARY 



North Carolina State College 



