HOW TO KNOW FERNS 



The Bulb-bearing Bladder Fern is long and slender, its frond 

 often reaching the length of one to three feet; it usually hangs 

 down over the rock in a most decorative 

 manner. Along its rachis are little globular 

 bulbs about the size of a pepper grain 

 which, when they come in contact with the 

 soil, put forth roots and start a new fern. 



The Fragile Bladder Fern. This species 

 is even more delicate than the preceding; 

 it rarely reaches the length of fifteeninches. 

 It is the first fern of all to put forth fronds 

 in the spring and is often found growing 

 in company with its bulb-bearing sister. 

 This fern is sometimes confused with the 

 Obtuse Woodsia which grows in the same 

 situations, but the latter shows remnants 

 of an indusiimi extending out star-shaped beyond its fruit dots. 



The Christmas Fern. Polystichum 



This thick handsome fern has great attractions for the lover 

 of woods especially in fall or winter when its fronds give a Christ- 

 mas-like cheer to the brown or snom^ forest 

 floor. It is very lasting after being gathered 

 and therefore is used much in decoration. 

 The sterile fronds are broader and shorter than 

 those which bear the spores ; the fertile fronds 

 have smaller pinnae toward the tip which are 

 crowded below with fruit dots until they look 

 _ as if they were covered with fungus, which is 



^Sf >^|\ an opinion commonly held by the uninformed. 

 -^^ * * The spore blanket or indusium is fastened at 

 the center and opens all around its margin. 

 The Christmas Fern is abundant on hillsides, 

 in woods, and in rocky situations. Its stems 

 (stipes) are covered with dense chaff and are often from five to 

 seven inches long while the whole frond often attains the length 

 of two feet. There are two species of Holly Ferns which are 

 near relatives of the Christmas Fern but are more spiny. 



