AspiDiuM. FILICES. 495 



•••• AspiDiEJE, J. Sm. Sori roundish. Involucres orbicular, reniform or cucullate, either peltate 

 or attached to the inner side of the receptacle, rarely calyciform and including the capsules. 



12. ASPIDIUM Swartz, synop. Fih p. 3. SHIBLD-PERN. 



[From the Greek, aspis, a shield ; in allusion to the form of the involucre.] 

 Lastrea, Borg. ; Poltstichum, Roth. ; Hypopeltis, Mkhx. 

 Sori round, seated on the middle or extremity of the veinlets. Involucres orbicular and cen- 

 tral, or reniform and lateral. — Fronds mostly pinnate, or bi-tripinnate : segments often 

 serrate : veins forked or pinnate ; the veinlets free, direct (sometimes anastomosing, but not 

 in any of the following species). 



1. AspiDiuM MARGiNALE, Swavtz. Marginal Shield-fern, 



Frond bipinnate ; pinnata lanceolate ; segments oblong, obtuse, crenate-serrate, decurrent, 

 the lower ones nearly distinct ; sori nearly marginal, distinct ; stipe chaffy. — Swartz, I. c. ; 

 Wild. sp. 5. p. 259 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 662 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 391 ; Torr. compend. p. 382; 

 Beck, hot. p. 450 ; Darlingt. fi. Cest. p. 578. Polypodium marginale, Linn. sp. 2. p. 1091. 

 Nephrodium marginale, Michx. fl. 2. p. 267. Lastrea marginale, J. Smith, I. c. 



Stipe chaffy, with large brown scales, stout, 5-8 inches long. Frond ovate-oblong, 12 - 

 18 inches long, and 5-7 inches wide, smooth, bluish-green, of a firm texture : segments 

 8-10 lines long, often a little falcate ; the lower ones abruptly contracted at the base, and 

 then decurrent : midrib flexuous, the veins ramified. Sori the size of a common pin's head, 

 10- 14 on each segment, terminating the veinlets near the sinuses of the teeth. Involucre 

 peltate-reniform, finally stipitate and somewhat funnel-form by the growth of the capsules 

 around it. 



Rocky moist woods and hill-sides : common. Fr. July. 



2. AsPiDiuM GoLDiANUM, Hook. Goldic's Shield-fern. 



Frond pinnate, broadly ovate ; pinnae deeply pmnatifid, lanceolate ; segments oblong, rather 

 acute, somewhat falcate, with remote appressed serratures ; sori near the midrib ; stipe and 

 rachis somewhat chaffy. — Hook, in Edinh. new phil. jour. 6. p. 333, ^ fl. Bor.-Am. 2. 

 p. 260 ; Hook. 4- Grev. ic. Fit. t. 102 ; Torr. compend. p. 381 ; Beck, hot. p. 450. A. 

 Filix-mas, Pursh, fl. 2. p. 662, not of Willd. Lastrea Goldiana, J. Smith. 



Whole plant, except the stipe, smooth, 2 feet or more in height. Frond 6-12 inches wide, 

 bright yellowish green : pinnae alternate, acute : segments about three-fourths of an inch in 

 length, closely approximated ; the veins forked, the first fork from the upper side of each 

 primary vein, bearing a sorus. Sori 12-16 on the lower segments. Involucre reniform- 

 peltate. 



Shady moist woods, in rich soil. Northern and western counties ; also on Long Island. 

 Fr. July. 



