FiLiCES. (ferns.) 655 



§ 2. Evergreen or perennial-stemmed, surviving the winter, mostli/ roitfjk {the ciifide 

 aboimdimj in silex] : fruiting in summer : spike tipped with a rigid litilc jxjiid. 

 (Stoiniita in rcqnlar rows, in our species I -rowed on aiich side oftlie groure.) 



* Stems tall and stout (1^° -4° or even 6° high), simple or casu(d/i/ bramhed, evenly 

 Viang- (15-40-) groorcd : sheatlis appressed. [Probabig all forms of the Com- 

 mon Scoiiriui^ Rush.) 



7. E. Isevigatum, Brimn. Stems H°-4° liij^li, sometimes with numer- 

 ous branches ; the ridges convex, obtuse, smooth or minutelg rougldsh with minute 

 tubercles ; sheaths elongated, with a narrow bUxciv limb and about 22 linHir-uwl- 

 shaptd caducous tuth, \ -keeled below. — Dryisii chiy soil, Illinois and southward. 



8. E. robustum, Braun. Stems 3° - 6° high; the ridgen narrow, rough 

 with one line of tubercles: sheaths sitort, with a black girdle ahove the base, rarely 

 with a black limb, and about 40 deciduous ^-keeled teeth with ocate-awl -shaped 

 points. — River-banks, Ohio to Illinois, and southward. — Passes by var. affine, 

 Engclm. (smaller, with 20-25 awl-pointed more persistent teeth) into the next. 



9. E. hyemale, L. (Scouring-Rush. Shave-Grass.) Stems I^°-4° 

 high; the ndgcs roughened by 2 more or less distinct lines of tubercles; sheaths 

 elongated, with a black girdle above the base and a black limb, of about 20 (17- 

 26) narrowlg linear teeth, l-keeled utthe base and with awl-shaped deciduous points. — 

 "Wet banks : common northward. Used for scouring. (Eu.) 



* * Stems slender, in tufts, 5- \0-grooved: sheaths looser. 



10. E. variegatum, Schleicher. Stems ascending {G' - \8' long), usually 

 simple from a branched base, 5 - lO-groovcd ; sheaths green variegated with 

 black above ; the 5 - 10-teeth tipped with a deciduous bristle. — Shores or river- 

 banks. New Hampshire (Bellows Falls, Careg) and Niagara to Wisconsin and' 

 northward: rare. (Eu.) 



11. E. SCirpoides, Michx. Stems verg numerous in a tuf, filiform (3'- 6' 

 high), flexuous and curving, mostlg tjgrooved, with acute ridges; the sheaths 

 ^-toothed, the bristle-jjointed teeth more persistent ; central air-cavity wanting. — 

 Wooded hillsides. New England to Pennsylvania, Michigan, and northward. 

 (Eu.) 



Ordkr 1.30. riLICES. (Feun-s.) 



Leafg plants, with the leaves (fronds) usuallg raised on a sicdk or petiole 

 (stipe), rising from a root, or mostlg from a prostrate or assurgent or even 

 erect I'oolstock, separatelg rolled up (circinate) in the hud (except in Sub- 

 order IV.) and bearing on the under .surface, commonly on the veins or along 

 the margins, the simple fructification, -which con.sist.^i. of 1-celled spore-cases 

 (sporangia), opening in various ways, and discharging the numerous mi- 

 nute spores. (Antherldia and pistillidia formed and fertilization efFected 

 on the seeding plantlet !) — Of the eight well-marked Suborders, into 

 which the Ferns are divided, four are represented in the Northern United 

 States. 



The whole order has been elaborated for this edition by Prof. D.a.niel 

 C. Eaton, of Yale Colleo;e. 



