OSTRICH FERN 



Onoclea strut nio^teris (L.) Horrm. 



VERY large ferns, compound, fertile and sterile fronds 

 very unlike. Sterile leaves two to several feet long, OD- 

 lanceolate, witn rounded top; pinnae very numerous, slender 

 and pointed, several mcnes long near the center, narrowing 

 to very sKort ones at tKe base, witK edges very deeply cut 

 into a great number of sbort, close, somewbat scytbe-sbaped 

 segments. Stalks very sbort, arising in a cluster m spring 

 from a very stout sbort rootstock wbicb produces runners; 

 texture of the blade firm, veins free and simple. Fertile 

 leaves, one to few, shorter, erect and stiff, arising in July 

 from the center of the crown of sterile leaves; stems stout, 

 deeply grooved in front, and blades once divided, the edges 

 of the numerous long pinnae closely rolled together to form 

 pod-like dark green segments, turning brown, enclosing the 

 crowded and confluent son which open to discharge the spores 

 in the following spring. 



The ostrich fern is, probably, the most graceful of the 

 big ferns. The sterile leaves growing in a crown suggest a 

 cluster of ostrich feathers, and the fertile leaves are like stiff 

 plumes. The former may be confused with the sterile fronds 

 of the cinnamon or the interrupted ferns. This fern is found 

 m several places in the E)ells, m low rich moist ground. 



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