424 CLASS XXIV. ORDER I. 



Sijn. WooDAVARDiA Banisteriana. Mx. 



About two feet high. Segments obtuse, oblong, nearly entire, 

 the edges not more revolute than in other ferns. — Tewksbury. 

 Mr. Greene. 



433. ADIANTUM. 



Adiantum pedatum. L. Maidenhair. Mowhair. 



Frond pedate; divisions pinnate; segments rhom- 

 boid-oblong, somewhat hinate, cnt-lobed. 



Few vegetables possess a greater delicacy of structure thaa 

 is exhibited by the glossy stems, and fine, regular leaves of the 

 Maidenhair. The stipe, which is of a shining, jet black, divides 

 by a large fork into two principal branches, each of which gives 

 off several successive branches from its upper side; so that the 

 whole frond has the appearance of a pedate leaf without its 

 middle division. The segments or leafets are alternate, oblong, 

 entire on the lower edge, cut and toothed on the upper. The 

 fruit grows in semicircular points at the margin of the leaf, 

 covered by the folding back of its edge. — Found in moist, rocky 

 woods. — Perennial. 



434. DICKSONIA. 



DiCKSONiA piLosiuscuLA. WHlcl. Small fruitcd DicJcsonia. 

 Frond twice pinnate; divisions pinnatifid ; seg- 

 ments toothed ; stipe somewhat hairy. 

 Syn, Nephrodium punctilobulum. Mich. 



A pretty large, thin, and very delicate fern. The common 

 stalk is smooth, with the exception of a few fine, short hairs, 

 which also invest its divisions. The divisions of the frond 

 are pinnate or pinnatifid, the segments decurrent, oval-oblong, 

 deeply cut or pinnatifid, the partial segments again toothed upon 

 their edge. Dots of fructification minute, near the margin. — 

 Road sides and pastures. — Perennial. 



