SROUP V 



FERTILE AND STERILE FRONDS LEAF-LIKE AND SIMILAR ; 

 SPORANGIA IN LINEAR OR OBLONG FRUIT - DOTS 



its most distinguishing feature is its stalk, which, 

 though brown below, becomes green above, while 

 that of its little relative is dark and shining through- 

 out. Its discovery on Mt. Mansfield, Vt., by Mr. 

 Pringle gave it a place in the flora of the United 



States, as is shown in the 

 following passage from Mr 

 Pringle's address before the 

 Vermont Botanical Club: 



" On this first visit to Mt. 

 Mansfield my work was re- 

 stricted to the crest of the 

 great mountain. About the 

 cool and shaded cliffs in front 

 of the Summit House were 

 then first brought to my view 

 Aspidium fragrans . . . and 

 . for I was still on my fern 

 hunt. The finding of the former added a species 

 to the Vermont catalogue ; the latter was an ad- 

 dition to the flora of the United States. Such little 

 discoveries gave joy to the young collector." 



31. SCOTT'S SPLEENWORT 



Asplenium ebenoides 



Connecticut to the Mississippi and southward to Alabama, on 

 limestone. Four to twelve inches long, with blackish and 

 shining stalks. 



Fronds. Lanceolate, tapering to a long, narrow apex, generally 

 pinnate below, pinnatifid above ; fruit-dots straight or slightly 

 curved ; indusium narrow. 



140 



Fertile pinna 



Asplenium viride, 



