n8 



THE MARSH FERN TRIBE. 



MARSH FERN. 



Asfidiunt Thelypteris. 



dwelling place, it is also found 

 in the wet woodlands, along 

 streams and in damp mea- 

 dows. It avoids actual water but 

 soft watery mud is its delight. In 

 open places it grows as thickly as 

 grass, often to the exclusion of 

 other vegetation, and seems to 

 court the sun if it can obtain a 

 supply of moisture. 



Early in spring, before other 

 marsh plants have come up, the 

 slender crosiers of the marsh fern 

 begin to push above the black soil. 

 They are not flattened laterally as 

 are the crosiers of most ferns but 

 shaped like little green spheres, 

 These attractive looking objects 

 nodding at the tops of the long 

 stipes in the swampy wastes, are 

 so characteristic of the species 

 that one may frequently identify 

 the plant from the crosiers alone. 

 The slender, cord-like rootstock 

 creeps about freely just beneath the surface 

 and produces fronds throughout the sum- 

 mer. The early ones develop very quickly 

 and may | 

 often be 

 seen with 

 the lower 1 



pinnae ful- VENATION. 



ly spread while the upper are still coiled. 



