2i 4 THE BLADDER FERNS. 



Cystopteris bulbifera ranges from Canada to Tennessee, 

 Arkansas and Wisconsin and is also reported from 

 Alaska. It is rather irregularly distributed, being very 

 common in some localities and entirely absent from 

 others that seem equally favourable to its growth. It is 

 found on many rocks other than limestone and is excel- 

 lent for the rockery in the fern garden. This species 

 shares with the maidenhair the honour of being first to be 

 sent to the Old World by botanical explorers. In Great 

 Britain it is occasionally known as the berry-bearing 

 fern. 



"The Mountain Bladder Fern. 



The mountain bladder fern (Cystopteris montana) is not 

 likely to be found by the eastern collector. It is a 

 rare species within our limits, coming south only as far 

 as Labrador and Northern Canada. It has also been 

 found north of Lake Superior and in the mountains of 

 Colorado. In Northern Europe and Asia it is rather 

 more abundant. It may be distinguished from the 

 other bladder ferns by its almost triangular fronds on 

 long straw-coloured stipes. It is usually about a foot 

 high and grows along woodland streams in deep shade. 

 The blade is thin, three to four times pinnate, the pinnae 

 much like the frond in shape. The pinnules are deeply 

 toothed and the sori abundant. The indusium is pointed 

 at the free end, and soon withers. Our illustration is 

 from a plant, rather smaller than ordinary, collected in 

 the Cape Nome gold fields. 



