846 



at several i)lace» in the Sierra Nevada, Lcnu 

 tlie stiition not known. Tiie IVoiid.-, of thib 

 ccnsc, but the rootstock is very dill'erent. 



2. A. patens, Swartz. Tiootstock rather stout, creeping, Learing several froiuld 

 at tlie "rowing tMid : fronds thin hut ratlier firm, softly j)uhescent heucath, often long- 

 stalked, 2 to 5 feet high, ovate-ohlong, pinnate ; pinnie linear-acuminate, often 4 to (> 

 inches long, i)innatilid three-fourtlis of the way to the midril), tlie lower ones not 

 retluced ; segments very numerous, crowded, ohlicpiely ohlong, ohtuso or acute, Ijasal 

 ones h)ngest : veins simple, free, or the lowest ones of adjoining segments sometimes 

 unitin"- and sending out a short veinlet to the nearest sinus : sori near the margin ; 

 indusium very pubescent. — 8yn. Fil. 49 ; Hook. & Arn. Bot. IJeechey, 405 ; Eaton, 

 Ferns of N. Amer. ii. 181, t. 70. Nephrudium patens, Desv. ; Hook. Sp. Fil. iv. 1)5. 



In several canons near Santa Barbara, Mrs. Cuopcr, llolhrock, Lcmmon, etc. Attrilaited to San 

 Francisco in the Botany of Beechey's Voyage, but not fonnd there of recent years. Te.\as to 

 Florida, tropical America generally, South Africa and Polynesia. 



* * Texture firmer or suhcorlacGoiis : veins fork'nuj freely. 



3. A. rigidum, Swartz. liootstock stout, ascending, very chaify : fronds 1 to 2 

 feet long, standing in a crown, borne on moderately htng very chatty stalks, sub- 

 coriaceous, nearly evergreen, smooth and green above, paler and glandular beneath, 

 ovate-lanceolate in outline, usually bipinnate ; pinna; oblong-lanceolate, the lowest 

 ones broadest and a trille shorter than the middle ones ; junnulcs olilong, inci.seil or 

 doubly serratt!, cou.spi(au)Usly veiny : .sori large, nearer the midvein than the margin ; 

 in<lusium lirm, convex, orbicular witii a very narrow sinus, the edge ghmdular. — 

 Syn. Fil. 53 ; Milde, Fil. Eur. et AtL 120. 



Yar. argutum, Faton. Frond broader in outline, with larger ])innac and seg- 

 ments, its texture rather heavier and the teeth more decidedly spinulose. — Fiirns of 

 the Southwest, 333, and Ferns of N. Amer. ii. 1, t. 4(5. A. argutum, Kaulfuss, 

 F:nura. Fil. 242; Torr. Pacif. It. Hep. iv. IGO, and vii. 21. Lastrea aryuta, Ihack- 

 enridge, Ferns of IJ. S. Expl. Exp. 196. 



Kocky hillsides and copses, commoner in the western counties than in the Sierra Nevada, ex- 

 tending northward to Oregon and southward to the Sierra Madre of Jle.xico. The I'alifoinian 

 ))lant differs from the common typical Euroitean form mainly in the more generous outline of tin; 

 frond and its subdivisions. It is very fragrant in drying, so that a few fronds will perfume a 

 large bundle of dried plants. 



A. si'iNULOSu.M, Swartz (Eaton, Ferns of N. Amer. ii. 1(53, t. 68), a common eastern fern, has 

 been found in Oregon. The texture is thinner than in A. rujidum, and tiie piiuin; more linely 

 cut, with more spinulose teeth, etc. 



§ 2. Indusium orhicular and entire, peltate, fixed by the depressed centre or short 

 central stalk to the middle of the sorus : junna; and pinnules often auridcd 

 on the npper side of tlie base: veins free. — roi-vsTiciiUM. 

 * Pimue or pinnules serrate with spiny-pointed teeth. Large ferns. 



4. A. munitum, Kaulfuss. Eootstock stout, ascemling, chatty : stalks a few 

 inches to a foot long, chatty, at least at the base, with abundant large glossy-brown 

 acuminate scales: fronds 1 to 4 feet long, standing in a crown, subcoriaceous, ever- 

 green, lanceolate in outline, simply pinnate ; i)inna- very many, often chatty beneath, 

 as is commonly the rhachis, 1 to 4 inches long, linear-acuminate, very sharply and 

 often doubly serrate witli incurved aculeate teeth, auricled at the upper side of the 

 nearly sessile base and obliquely truncate at the lower, all or only the upper om-s 

 fertile, but not contracted ; veins forking : sori abundant, at length coidluent. — 

 Eiuim. 23G ; Hook. Fl. 15or.-Am. ii. 2G1 ; Eaton, Ferns of N. Amer. i. 187, t. 25. 

 Polt/sticlann munitum, Presl ; Brackenridge, 1. r. 203 ; Eaton, Bot. Mex. Bound, 235. 



Var. nudatum, Eaton. Frond small, nearly devoid of chalf ; pinme fi'W, rather 

 remote, oblong-oval, sli;j,htly auriclt^l : sori scanty, confined to the ends i)f a few (d' 

 the highe.-,t piniKc. — Ferns of N. Amer. i. 1S8. 



