34- WALKING FERN. 

 WALKING LEAF 



Camptosorus rhizophyllus 



Canada to North Carolina and westward, 

 on shaded rocks, preferring limestone. Four 

 to eighteen inches long, with light-green 

 stalks. 



Fronds. Simple, lanceolate, long-tapering 

 toward the apex, usually heart-shaped at base, 

 the apex often rooting and forming a new 

 plant ; frtdt-dots oblong or linear, irregularly 



scattered on the lower surface of the frond ; indusium 



thin. 



To its unusual and suggestive title this plant un- 

 doubtedly owes much of the interest which it seems 

 to arouse in the minds of those who do not profess 

 to be fern-lovers. A friend tells me that as a child, 

 eagerly on the lookout for this apparently active 

 little plant, he was so much influenced by its title 

 that he thought it might be advantageous to secure a 

 butterfly-net as an aid in its capture. I find that 

 older people as well are tempted to unwonted ener- 

 gy if promised a glimpse of the Walking Fern, Then, 



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