THE FERN PARADISE, 



1. 



THE OBLONG WOOD SI A. 



Woodsia ilvensis. 

 PLATE 5, FIG. 1. 



TUFTED caudex, or root-stock, from 

 which grow up in thick clusters the 

 delicate fronds. These have scaly 

 stems, are narrowly oblong, and somewhat 

 blunt-pointed, widest in the centre, and gra- 

 dually shortening towards the base as well as 

 towards the apex. On each side of the rachis is 

 a row of leaflets, somewhat egg-shaped, attached 

 to the rachis somewhat irregularly; at first in 

 opposite pairs, but ultimately, towards the point 

 of the frond, in alternation. These leaflets 

 are deeply cleft or lobed in the lowest part 

 of the frond, the divisions diminishing in depth 

 as the leaflets, nearing the point of the frond, 

 become smaller and smaller. Finally the leaflets 

 merge in the frond-tip, which is simply notched. 

 The backs of the fronds are clothed to a greater 



332 



