FRAGILE BLADDER FERN 



Ct/sto^teris fragilis (L.) Bernn. 



'nr^WICE compound, otlon^-lanceolate leaves witK taper- 

 -^ ing apex, variaole. Pinnae numerous, the lo-wer ones 

 distant and broad with snort stalks, tne upper ovate to oolong. 

 Pinnae distinct only in tne lower pinnae, joined by a narrow 

 w^ing along tne stem, broad and blunt, variously toothed. 

 Son small, abundant, tne very tnm indusium soon witnering. 

 Stems slender and brittle, long, arising from a slender creep- 

 ing rootstocK. Leaves tnin, drooping, from a few inches to 

 more than a foot in lengtn, nearly all fertile, the first pro- 

 duced very early in spring, continuing to appear and fruit all 

 summer if tnere is abundant moisture. 



Xnis is a common fern and one of the most delicate. It 

 grow^s where there is shade and moisture, preferably clinging 

 to tbe rocks. In general form tbe leaf resembles tbat of tbe 

 blunt-lobea woodsia -wnicn sometimes gro-ws witn it. 



Puge Forty-three 



