CLASS XXIV. ORDER I. 417 



OsMUNDA REGALis. L. OsmuTid Royul. Flowering Fern. 



Frond twice pinnate, terminating in a compound 

 cluster of fructification. 



A handsome, branching fern, found in meadows and moist 

 grounds. Stipe smooth. Divisions pinnate. Leafets or seg- 

 ments perfectly distinct and remote, oblong, very slightly ser- 

 rated, the lower half of base longest. Capsules small, globular, 

 two-valved, like the preceding species, arranged in a large, com- 

 pound raceme at the top of the stipe. — Perennial. 



425. POLYPODIUM. 

 PoLYPODiuM vuLGARE. L. Common Polypody. 



Frond pinnatifid; segments linear-oblong, obtuse, 

 slightly serrate. 



A handsome fern, not uncommon on the sides of rocks and 

 steep, shady hills, forming beds by means of its creeping roots. 

 The stalk or stipe is perfectly smooth, grooved in the upper 

 side. Fronds about half a foot long, divided in a pinnate man- 

 ner almost to the stalk or midrib, by sinuses which are more 

 acute than in the European variety. Segments of the frong ob- 

 long, parallel, rounded at the end, very slightly serrate, fur- 

 nished on the back with a double row of large, round, yellowish, 

 granular, naked dots of fructification. — Perennial. 

 PoLYPODiuM coNNECTiLE. Mx. Connected Polypody. 



Fronds twice pinnate, ciliate, the divisions oppo- 

 site, contiguous, adnate ; segments subeliptical ; stipe 

 chaffy, sori minute. 



A middle sized fern, having its divisions connected at base, so 

 as to form a contiguous frond. Fructification in minute dots ou 

 the back. — Woods, Hallowell, Maine. 



PoLYPODiuM DRYOPTERis. L. Teruute Polypody. 



Frond ternate, twice pinnate ; branches deflexed ; 

 segments obtuse, subcrenate ; root filiform. 



A tender and beautiful fern found in mountain woods. Stipe 

 slender, smooth, less than a foot long. The frond divides into 



