STERILE AND FERTILE FRONDS TOTALLY UNLIKE; 

 oROUP I FERTILE FRONDS NOT LEAF-LIKE IN APPEARANCE 



plume-like fronds of a rich green arched above mj 

 head. From the midst of the circle which the) 

 formed sprang the shorter, dark, rigid fruit-clusters. 

 I was fairly startled by the unexpected beauty and 

 regal bearing of the Ostrich Fern. 



This magnificent plant luxuriates especially in the 

 low, rich soil which is subject to an annual overflow 

 from our northern rivers. Its vase-like masses of 

 foliage somewhat suggest the Cinnamon Fern, but 

 the fertile fronds of the Ostrich Fern mature in 

 July, some weeks later than those of its rival. They 

 are dark-green, while those of the Cinnamon Fern 

 are golden-brown. Should there be no fruiting 

 fronds upon the plant, the Ostrich Fern can be dis- 

 tinguished by the free veins with simple veinlets 

 (Plate II, a) of its pinnae, the veins of the Cinnamon 

 Fern being free and its veinlets forking (PL III, a), 

 and by the absence of the tuft of rusty wool at the 

 base of the pinnae on the under side of the frond. 



The Ostrich Fern does so well under cultivation 

 that there is danger lest it crowd out its less aggres- 

 sive 'neighbors. It propagates chiefly by means of 

 underground runners. Mr. Robinson describes a 

 specimen which he had planted in his out - door 

 fernery that crawled under a tight board fence and 

 reappeared in the garden of his neighbor, who was 

 greatly astonished and equally delighted so unex- 

 pectedly to become the owner of the superb plant. 



The Ostrich Fern, like its kinsman the Sensitive 

 Fern, occasionally gives birth to fronds which are 

 midway between its fruiting and its non-fruiting 



