3G6 FERN FAMILY. 



rhomboid-ovate, very often halberd-shaped, the end ones of the primary pinnae 

 much the largest, often l'-2' long and '-!' broad; stalk and branches black 

 and polished, smooth ; involucre rather narrow. 



9. WOODWARDIA, CHAIN-FERN. (Named in honor of Thomas J. 

 Woodward, an English botanist of the last century.) A small genus of rather 

 large Ferns, all natives of the N. temperate zone. 



W. Virginica. Tall, growing in swamps N. & S. : sterile and fertile 

 fronds alike, ovate in outline, pinnate, with lanceolate deeply pinnatifid pinnae ; 

 lobes oblong, obtuse; veins reticulated, forming a single row of meshes along 

 the midribs of pinna? and of lobes, the outer veinlets free ; fruit-dots oblong, 

 close to the midribs. 



W. angustifdlia. Range, &c. of the last, but less common : fronds 6'- 

 10' long, 4' -6' broad, pinnatitid almost to the winged rhachis into 17-27 lobes, 

 which are broadly lanceolate and with copiously reticulated veins in the sterile 

 frond, but are narrowly linear in the fertile, and with a single row of narrow 

 meshes next the midrib ; fruit-dots linear, sausage-shaped, one hi -each mesh. 



10. DOODIA. (Named in honor of Samuel Doody, an early English Crypto- 

 gamic botanist.) Small Ferns, cult, from Australia and New Zealand. 



D. caudata. Fronds 9'-15' long, linear-lanceolate, on dull-black nearly 

 smooth stalks, pinnate with many linear serrate and nearly sessile pinnae, which 

 are about 1'long, often slightly auriculate at base, the lower ones rather trian- 

 gular, distant; fruit-dots in a single row next the midrib. 



D. aspera. Stalk black and rough with small ragged points ; fronds broadly 

 lanceolate, rather coriaceous, harsh to the touch, pinnatifid to the rhachis ; di- 

 visions crowded, oblong-linear, spinulose-serrate, lower ones gradually smaller; 

 fruit-dots not close to the midrib, sometimes a second row next the margin. 



11. ASPLENIUM, SPLEEN WORT. (Name from the Greek ; refers to 

 opposed action on the spleen.) A very large genus, the size of the species 

 ranging from quite small up to very large and even tree-like. 



1. Fronds undivided, large and showy : calt.fiom East Indies, fyc. 



A. Nidus, BIRD'S-NEST FERN. Fronds numerous, broadly lanceolate, 

 2 -4 long, 4' -8' wide, entire, short-stalked, arranged in a croAvn around the 

 central upright rootstock ; fruit-dots very narrow, elongated, crowded, running 

 from the stout midrib obliquely half-way to the margin. 



2. Fronds small, pinnatifid below, tapering into a long entire point native. 

 A. pinnatifldum. Very rare, near Philadelphia, and sparingly W. & S., 

 especially along the Alleghanics : fronds 3'- 6' long, "-l|' wide at the base; 

 lobes roundish-ovate mostly obtuse ; fruit-dots small, irregular. 



3. Fronds simply pinnate. 

 * Small Ferns, 4' - 15' high : all except the last are wild species. 



A. Trichomanes. Common, forming dense tufts in crevices of shady 

 rocks : fronds linear, 4' -8' long, with black and shining stalk and rhachis, and 

 many roundish or oblong slightly crenated or entire pinnae, about 4' long and 

 about half as broad ; fruit-dots few to each pinna. 



A. ebeneum. Common in rocky woods : fronds linear-lanceolate, nar- 

 rower at the base, 8' -15' long, 1'- 2' wide; stalk dark and polished; pinna? 

 many, linear-oblong, often slightly curved, finely serrate, auricled on one or 

 both sides at the base ; fruit-dots numerous. 



A. flabellifdlium. Cult, from Australia : lax, the rhachis often pro- 

 longed and rooting at the very end , fronds linear ; pinnae sharply wedge-shaped 

 at the base, the broad and rounded end crenated ; fruit-dots irregularly radiat- 

 ing from the base of the pinnae. 



# * Large Ferns, l-3/////A. 



A. angustifdlium. Rich woods N., and S., mainly along the mountains : 

 fronds thin, long-lanceolate, pinna? many 3' -4' long, linear-lanceolate from a 



