CHEILANTHES AND MAIDENHAIR. 



Cheilanthes vestita is a conspicuous example of a rock- 

 loving fern that is not partial to limestone. It shows 

 a strong preference for igneous rock. A.t 

 the New Haven station it is described as 

 growing in the crevices of a basaltic cliff 

 and in northern New Jersey it is most 

 frequently found on gneiss ledges. 



Superficially it has a decided resem- 

 blance to Woodsia Ilvensis and is not in- 

 frequently collected for it. Its fronds are 

 about the same size and shape, are hairy, 

 and the plant has the same fondness for 

 growing in dense little clumps on ex- 

 posed rocky crests. The species are not 

 difficult to distinguish between, when one 

 has both in hand ; the difficulty comes 

 when one collects a single species and 

 would be sure which it is. When other 

 signs fail, Cheilanthes may be known for 

 a certainty by its lack of a joint in the 

 stipe. The fronds are also somewhat 

 slenderer, and the pinnules narrower and 

 further apart. 



The plant has a short, creeping root- 

 stock covered with hairlike brownish 

 scales, and shows its southern nature by 

 producing fronds until late autumn as if 

 there were no such things as frost and 

 snow. Even in the north, it appears to 

 be evergreen. The fronds are usually 

 from six to eight inches long, on short 

 stipes and narrowly lanceolate in outline. 

 They are twice pinnate, the primary pinnae about ovate, 



Cheilanth.es vestita. 



