34 



POLYPODIACEAE (FEHN^ FAMILY) 



when young) hy a membrane called the indusium (or less properly the involucre) 

 growi.ig either from the back or the margin uf the frond. 



n. Imliisiuin uone or abortive and obscure b. 

 h. Sterile fronds simply pinnatilid (the segments rarely toothed or lobed). 



Fertile ft-onds similar to the sterile, tiat and leaf-like .... 1. Poltpodium. 

 Fertile fronds much contmcted ; segments pod-like . . . .18. Onoclba. 



b. Sterile fronds •2-4-pinnate or -pinnatitid. 



Sterile fronds green on both surfaces. 



Fertile fronds similar to the sterile, leaf-like 2. Phegopteris. 



Fertile fronds much contracted ; segments pod-like . . .18. Onoclea. 



Sterile fronds whitened beneath .3. Notholaena. 



«. Indusium present c. 



c. Indusium formed entirely or in part by the revolute edge of the frond d. 



d. Sori clearly distinct. 



Indusium single, covering the sorus 4. Adiantum. 



Indusium double, cup-like or 2-valved 17. Dicksonia. 



d. Sori soon confluent as a more or less continuous marginal band. 



Stipe stout (3-4 mm. in diam.), commonly solitary .... 5. Pteris.^^ 

 Stipes liliform (0.5-1.3 mm. in diam.), clustered. • 



Segments of the sterile frond glabrous. 

 Green or greenish. 

 Segments petiolulate or articulated at cordate or rounded base 7. Pellaea. 

 Segments of sterile frond cuneate at sessile unarticulated base S. Ckyptogrj aha. 



Chalky-white beneath 3. Noteiolaena. 



Segments of the sterile frond pubescent 6. Cheilaxtues. 



e. Indusium not continuous with the edge of the frond e. 

 6. Indusium peltate or laterally attached, covering the sorus when young /. 

 f. Sori more or less elongated. 



Sori parallel to the midrib 9. Woodwardia. 



Sori parallel to the oblique lateral veins. 

 Veins free; fronds 1-o-pinnate. 

 Sori separate, straight or horseshoe-shaped . . . .10. Asplenium. 

 Sori linear, confluent in pairs (appearing like single sori 



but with indusia on both sides) 11. Soolopendrium. 



Veins reticulated ; fronds simple, rooting at the tip . . . 12. CAMPTOsoRL'a. 

 f. Sori orbicular or reniform g. 



g. Indusium evident at least when young ; fertile fronds leaf-like h. 

 h. Indusium tixed by the center. 



Indusium orbicular-j)eltate, without a sinus . . . .13. Polystichitm. 

 Indusium reniform or if orbicular with a narrow sinus . . 14. Aspidium. 



h. Indusium attached at the side 15. Cvstoptekis. 



g. Indusium obscure, lunate ; fertile segments much contracted, 



j)od-like 18. Onoclea. 



e. Indusium inferior, cup-like or involucre-like. 



Indusium 2-valved, cup-like 17. Dicksonia. 



Indusium cleft into narrow segments . , 16. Woodsia. 



1. P0LYP6dIUM [Toum.] L. Polypody 



Fruit dots round, naked, arranged on the back of the frond in one or more 

 rows each side of the midrib or central vein, or irregularly scattered, each borne 

 in our species on the end of a free veinlet. Rootstocks creeping, branched, often 

 covered with chaffy scales, bearing scattered roundish knobs, to which the stipes 

 are attached by a distinct articulation. (Name from tpoXiJ-, many, and Trovi,foot, 

 alluding to the branching rootstock.) 



1. P. vulgare L. Fronds evergreen, oblong, smooth both sides, 8-40 cm. 

 high, simple and deeply pinnatlfid ; the divisions linear-oblong, obtuse or some- 

 wiiat acute, remotely and ob.scurely toothed ; veins once or twice forked ; 

 fruit dots large, midway between the midrib and the margin. — Rocks ; common. 

 .July. (Hu., etc.) Variable. Some of the more noteworthy forms have been 

 distinguished as : Var. attenuXtdm Milde, with segments attenuate-acuminate, 

 Sfmilate toward the end. Var. aukiti'm Willd., with the lowest segments auri- 

 cled. Var. cambuicum (L.) Willd., with the segments more or less strongly 

 toothed or pinnatifid. Var. cristXtu.m Moore, with segments 1-several times 

 forked at the ends. 



2. P. polypodioides (L.) Ilitchc. Frond evergreen and coriaceous, oblong, 

 6-25 cm. higli, grayish and very scurfy tindcrncalh vnth pfUate scales, simply 

 pinnatifid ; the divisions oblong-linear, obtuse ; fruit dots rather small, near the 

 margin; veins forking, free in the N. American plant! (P. incan\im Sw.) — ■ 

 Rocks and trunks of trees, Va. and O. to la., and south w. ;• reported on 

 Staten I., N. Y. (Trop.) 



