i86 THE LADY FERN AND ITS KIN. 



ing end but soon form a nearly circular clump two or 

 three feet high. The stout young crosiers are covered 

 with large brown scales which seldom persist until 

 the fronds mature. The stipe and rachis are strewn 

 with slender chaff and the upper surface of the fronds is 

 often covered with longish hairs that give it a peculiarly 

 velvety effect when growing. It is not very noticeable 



SILVERY SPLEENWORT. A thyriunt thelypteroides. 



in herbarium specimens, and the books are silent upon 

 the subject, although in the field one can often identify 

 the species by this single feature. 



The blade is about oblong, tapering both ways from 

 the middle, but is never so greatly reduced below as is 

 that of the New York fern. It is thin and delicate, with 

 oblong, acuminate pinnae cut nearly to the midrib into 

 short, close, rounded, obscurely serrate lobes. When 

 the fronds are exposed to the sun, the blades become 

 thicker, narrower, more erect and yellow-green in colour. 

 Curiously enough, although they do not grow in full 

 sunlight from choice, they are most fruitful in such situa- 

 tions. The stipe is about one third the length of the 

 frond. 



