oo 1 FILICES. ruhjpoJiiiiit. 



1. POLYPODIUM, Linn. roLYioDV. 

 Sori round or oval, very rarely elongated, placed on the back of the frond at the 

 ends of tho veins, rarely on the hack of the veins, but in many (foreign) species at 

 the point where several veins unite, entirely destitute of indusiuni. Stalks articu- 

 lated to a sliglitly prominent knob of the chaffy rootstock, which is usually creeping 

 and elongated. Veins free or reticulated in several dilfereut ways. Fronds smooth 

 and simply pinnatilid in the Californian species. 



A genus of about 350 species, of wliioh the greater part inhabit tropical regions. The fronds 

 vary fiora simple to ijuadii-pinnatilid, and are sometimes hairy or scaly, or densely atellute- 

 pubesoent. 



§ 1. Veins uniformhj free. — Eupolypodium. 



1. P. vulgare, Linn. Plant 4 to 12 inches high; stalks slender: frond sub- 

 coriaceous, evergreen, ovate-oblong to oblong-linear, acuminate, pinnatifid almost to 

 the midrib ; segments numerous, linear-oblong, obtuse or acute, creuulate or serrate ; 

 veins usually with 3 or 4 veinlets, the lowest ones on the upper side of the vein 

 bearing at their thickened ends the subglubose sori midway between the midrib and 

 the margin of the segments. — Gray, Manual, 058, t. 15; AVilliamson, Fern Etch- 

 ings, t. 1 ; E;iton, Ferns of X. Amer. i. 237, t. 31, lig. 1 - 3. 



Near San Francisco and Bcnicia, and northward, often growing on trees ; in the llocky ifoun- 

 tains and eastward to the Atlantic ; also in Europe, Asia and parts of Africa. Tlie plant of the 

 Pacific Coast has long-pointc.l segments, serrated towards the apex, and is var. occidcntale of 

 Hooker. Dut similar forms occur in Europe and even in tlie Atlantic States. 



2. P. falcatum, Kellogg. Stalks slender: frond thin-membranaceous, 9 to 15 

 inches long, 4 to G broad, broadly lanceolate in outline, pinnatihd to the midrib ; 

 segments numerous, tapering from a dilated base to a very long and attenuate point, 

 often somewhat falcate, sharply serrate, the lower ones a little shorter than those in 

 the middle, and separated by nuich broader sinuses ; veins mostly with four veinlets : 

 sori medium-sized, nearer the midvein than the margin. — Proc. Calif. Acad. i. 20 ; 

 Eaton, Fenis of N. Amer. i. 201, t. 2G. P. (Jlyci/rrhiza, lldon, Am. Journ. Sci. 

 2 ser. xxii. 138. 



On the mossy walls of a mountain cafton, 3,000 feet elevation, Trinity County, Prof. G. R. 

 Kleeberger, Oct. 1879. On trees and sometimes on rocks, not rare in Oregon and in Wubiiington 

 Territory. Tliinner in texture than P. vuJgarc, to which it is referred by IJaker. A careful com- 

 parison of living plants is needed before a .satisfactory couclu.sion can be reached. 



§ 2. Veinlets more or less frequently anastomosinfj hy the junction of the second 

 suj^erior veinlet of one yroup tvith the Jirst inferior veinlet of the next 

 superior yroKjK — (Jo.NioPULKiiiUM. 



3. P. Calif ornicum, Kaulfuss. Stalks moderately slender : fronds from a few 

 inches to a foot long, papery-herbaceous or, if grown near the sea, subcoriaceous, 

 ovate or ovate-oblong, pinnatifid almost to the midrib ; segments numerous, oblong- 

 linear, acute or obtuse, the lower ones mostly opposite, narrowed at tlie lower side 

 of the base, and separated by rounded sinu.ses, the upper ones often opposite, dilated 

 at the base, especially on the upper side, and separated by narrow sinuses ; margins 

 obscurely or jtlainly serrate, rarely even incised ; veins with four to si.\ veinlets, and 

 often forming a single series of ol)lique areolations which extend nearly to the mar- 

 gin : sori somewhat oval, rather remote from the margin. — Enum. Fil. 102; 

 Eaton, 1. c. 243, t. 31, fig. 4, 5. P. intermedium, Hook. & Am. Bot. Ueechey, 405. 



California ; mostly near the coast, from San Diego and Guadalupe Island northward. Plants 

 grown very near the sea have thicker fronds and veinlets more regularly ana.stomosing than those 

 which are remote from the influence of the salt water, and correspond more closely with the 

 character given by Kaulfuss, while the inland foini is that described by Hooker it Arnott as 

 P. iittcnnidiiiiti. 



