Til FERTILE FRONDS UNIFORMLY SOMEWHAT LEAF-LIKE, 

 YET DIFFERING NOTICEABLY FROM STERILE FRONDS 



violet-blue heads of the almost equally untiring self- 

 heal and the yellow pitchers of the pale touch-me- 

 not or jewel-weed. This plant, a close relative of 

 the more southern and better known spotted touch- 

 me-not, grows in great patches almost in the heart 

 of the woods. The lack of flowers is somewhat 

 atoned for by the coral clusters of the red baneberry 

 and the black-spotted, china-like fruit of the white 

 baneberry. 



But ferns chiefly abound in these woods. Every- 

 where I notice the thin, spreading frond and with- 

 ered fruit-cluster of the Rattlesnake Fern, in my ex- 

 perience the most ubiquitous member of the Botry- 

 chium group. More or less frequent are graceful 

 crowns of the Spinulose Shield Fern, slender shining 

 fronds of Christmas Fern, dull-green groups of Sil- 

 very Spleenwort and stately plumes of Goldie's 

 Fern. As we draw near the wood's border, where 

 the yellow sunlit fields of grain shine between the tall 

 maple shafts, we push aside umbrella-like Brakes. 

 At the very limits of the woods, close against the 

 rails, grows the sweet-scented Dicksonia. 



101 



