1894. ] Two New Ferns from New England. 495 
divisions, the basal ones cut nearly to the mid-rib and again 
pinnatifid with finely toothed lobes, texture sub-coriaceous; 
rachis stramineous and, as well.as the midribs beneath, usually 
scaly with minute scales and chaff; venation as in A. crista- 
tum, but more strongly depressed on the face and sometimes 
with the wavy blackish midribs and veins of A. marginale: 
sori nearer the margins than in A. cristatum, indusia smooth, 
convex before maturity as in marginale, spores few. 
Habitat: Borders of swamps with A. cristatum and A. mar- 
ginale near the bases of rocky land congenial to the latter. 
Collected in Boxford, Newbury, and Merrimac, Essex county, 
Mass., 1892, by Raynal Dodge of Newburyport. eis 
The principal characters by which this fern is to be distin- 
_ guished from A. cristatum, for which it is most likely to be 
mistaken, are (1) the character of the rootstock, this having 
acentral crown surrounded by fronds, while in A. cristatum 
the growth is lateral, extending beyond the fronds; (2) the 
broader outline of the upper two-thirds of the frond, the longer 
acuminated apex, and the acuminate pinne. 
The strongest resemblances to A. cristatum are In the young 
and sterile fronds, but a careful observation of several plants 
grown on my own grounds during the past year has shown 
marked differences that a practiced eye will readily detect. 
Mr. Dodge reports finding in August last a single plant in 
a swamp in Warren, Rhode Island, and it may be looked for 
Wherever A. cristatum and A. marginale grow near each other 
under favorable conditions. . a a 
Ihave also found it recently (in October), within gees 
sex Fells Reservation in Medford, growing under the condi 
tions I have indicated; A. cristatum, A. marginale, and ne 
hybrid near together, with plenty of A. marginale on con 
’ 
t. Dodge notices a disposition on the part of hao ida 
Produce abortive fronds, and I have found that it main 
this disposition under cultivation. “ 
Aspidium simulatum, n. sp.—! to 33 ae ae 
thizomataceous, wide creeping, slender, pdm shae 
-Proximate along the extensions or clustered near - isue 
end; stipites 6 to 20" long, stramineous, pigeons : in 
SParingly and deciduously scaly; lamine 7 to ce % Fertile 
73" broad, oblong-lanceolate, gradually (or ™ innatifid 
fronds abruptly) narrowing to the long acuminate p 
r 
