I 



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FKUN-FLOHA < >F CANADA. 



231 



DESCRIPTIONS OF SPEOIES OF CANADIAN FERNS. 



GKNl'S I. -Struthloptorls, Wii.LnKNOvv. OstHch /'', 



ni. 



0. 



S. Gkrmaniia var. I'KNNSYl.VANlfA, Lawson. Aniencnn Ostrich /'V-^n. - Rhizomo 

 erect, with lator.'il oflshools or ruiiiu'rs, forming' new rhizomes at tlieir points, whereby 

 ih ' \^\■v\\ is iiu're ised. Stipe very short. FnViuls tall (several feet li>n)^) in liifts t-oinposeil 

 ot" an outer eirele of leafy ^reen infertile fronils, with a lew shorter, conlraetetl, hard, 

 brown, fertile ones in the eenire ; interfile IVontis ])innafe, pinna> pinnafifiti, the lobes 

 entire, rouncleci-obfuse, veiniiles parallel, distinct, runnin>>^ from the mid-vein to mar^^in of 

 lobe ; fertile fronds eontraefed, the pinnules turned back over the sori ; indusium slight 

 and evanescent. (In the Kuropean form, flu- lobes oi the infertile pinna: are acute or 

 acutish). 



In deep rich soils. XoT(t Sfotia und .\'t":i' /inniswicl', not very common. (Jurhrr and 

 Ontario, abuntiant in many places. Does not extend northward, nor westward to the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



GEM'S II. OnOCloa, Linn.kis. Sensitive, or h'uftlr Snakf, Fern. 



O. SENSIBIMS, IJnn.'eus. Common Sensitive Fern. Rattle Snake /•>/•//. — Rhizome 

 elonj^'ate creepinj^ ; fronds arising- from it separately, not in circular tufls ; lamina 

 broad, leafv, somewhat trianj^-ular, deeply pinnatifid into oblon.yf lobes ; veins oi' the lobes 

 connected together, net-like ; fertile fronds erect, like a branched spike, doubly pinnate, 

 with small contracted rolled-up pinnules, not at all leafy ; indusium a thin membrane. 



Common in wet ground throusfliout the Maritime Provinces, Quebec, and Ontario, not 

 extending- west to the Prairies, nor found anywhere on the Pacific side of the Rocky 

 Mountains, althoug-h in North China, Amur and Manchuria. 



GENUS III.— "Woodsia, R. Brown. Wood's Fern. 



I VV. Ilvknsis, R. Br. Common Oh/onif, or Rusty, Woodsia. — Rhizome stout, 

 invested in a bulky mass of ruddy-brown stipe-stubs ; stijies articulated above the base ; 

 lamina lanceolate, bipinnate or nearly so ; pinna* close together, piimules oblong, obtuse ; 

 rachis and whole lower surface of the frond clothed with chaffy scales, which are colour- 

 less at first but become rustv at maturity ; sori distinct, but close together, around and 

 near the margins of the pinnules. 



A^ova Scotia : — On rocks overhanging Lake Thomas, abundant ; North Mountain ; 

 South Mountain of W'hycocomagh ; Gokl River, near Chester ; Truro. Xe7v /}rnns7i'ick : — 

 Woodstock ; Restigouche ; Upsalquitch ; Keswick ; Nashwaaksis ; St. Stephen ; Green 

 Head; St. John. Quebec: — Not rare. Ontario: — Common on outcrops of Laurentian 



