THE WOODSIAS. 99 



round sori as in W. Ihensis. The stipe is brown and 

 jointed near the rootstock. 



Many botanists have considered this species but a 

 smooth form of W. llvensis. Except for its size and lack 

 of scales there is very little to distinguish it from its 

 larger relative. Its habitat is reported to be on moist 

 rocks. North of the United States, it is found sparingly 

 from Ontario to Labrador and Alaska. The plant was 

 for a long time known among botanists as Woodsia alpina. 

 * 



The Smooth W^oodsia. 



The smooth Woodsia (Woodsia glabella) is nearly 

 allied to the alpine Woodsia and is found in the same 

 places. It may be distinguished by its shorter fronds, 

 fan-shaped, often three-parted, pinnules with toothed 

 margins and by the straw-coloured stipes. 

 Like W. hyperborea it is also found in Europe 

 and although probably more plentiful than its 

 ally, is nowhere common. Mr. W. W. Eggles- 

 ton, who has had abundant opportunities for 

 studying these rare ferns in the field, writes 

 of them in the Fern Bulletin as follows : " Many 

 of our best botanists collect both, thinking 

 they have nothing but this species [hyperborea 

 (alpina)]. Alpina, however, has a black or 

 brownish rachis with scattered palaceous hairs, 

 while that of glabella is entirely smooth and 

 green. Alpina, also, has a larger, coarser ap- 

 pearance in the field. . . . We are more often 

 deceived, now, by smooth forms of llvensis 

 than by glabella ; in fact, some smooth forms of 

 the former require an expert to separate." FERTILE FROND. 



