II FERTILE FRONDS PARTIALLY LEAF-LIKE, 

 11 FERTILE PORTION UNLIKE REST OF FROND 



6. INTERRUPTED FERN 



Osmunda Claytoniana 



Newfoundland to North Carolina, in swampy places. Two to 

 four feet high. 



Sterile fronds. Oblong-lanceolate, once-pinnate, pinna cut into 

 oblong, obtuse divisions, without a tuft of wool at the base of each 

 pinna. 



Fertile fronds. Taller than the sterile, leaf -like above and 

 !below, some of the middle pinnae fruit-bearing. 



The Interrupted Fern makes its appearance in 

 the woods and meadows and along the roadsides in 

 May. It fruits as it unfolds. 



At first the fruiting pinnae are almost black. Later 

 they become golden-green, and after the spores are 

 discharged they turn brown. They are noticeable 

 all summer, and serve to identify the plant at once. 



In the absence of the fertile fronds it is often 

 difficult to distinguish between the Cinnamon Fern 

 and the Interrupted Fern. 



The sterile fronds of the Interrupted Fern are 

 usually less erect, curving outward much more 

 noticeably than those of the Cinnamon Fern. Then, 

 too, its pinnae are cut into segments that are more ob- 

 tuse, and the whole effect of the frond is more stubby. 



But the most distinguishing feature of all is the 

 tuft of rusty wool which clings to the base of each 

 pinna of the sterile fronds of the Cinnamon Fern. 

 These tufts we do not find in the Interrupted Fern, 

 though both plants come into the world warmly 

 wrapped in wool. 



The Interrupted Fern is a peculiarly graceful plant. 



72 



