2 1. FILICES. Vl.end.cr. 



Fam, I. 1. FILICES. Ferns. 



Fructificatio?is gregarious, in sori covered when young 

 with an invohicrum ; generally seated upon the lower sur- 

 face of the leaves, but in some upon a spike. Capsules 

 unilocular, often girt with an elastic ring, which flies back 

 when the seeds are ripe ; seeds very minute. — Rhizoma per- 

 ennial, creeping ; Fronds alternate, apparently radical, 

 when young generally convolute ; Plants, usually herbaceous,- 

 but in some mountainous situations they become evergreen 

 shrubs. IVinch. Ann. of Phil. 1818. 



Rhizoma very bitter, emmenagogue, purgative, and an- 

 thelmintic. Leaves bechic, demulcent, astringent, agj'eeably 

 aromatic. Ashes contain much alkali ; which being dis- 

 solved in a decoction of the same plant stimulate the growth 

 of hair, and hence they have been called capillary plants. 



1 . Capsule striated, without an elastic ring, pedicelled, 



Osmnndacece, a. 

 Caps, globular, seated round the frond 

 contracted into the form of a panicle Osmunda. K 



2. Caps, striated, with an elastic ring. 



a. Involucriim none. Polypodiacece b. 



Sori transverse, linear Ceterach. 2. 



Sori round Polypodium. 3. 



h. Invol. umbilicate, or attached hij one side; 

 sori round. Aspidiacea;^ c. 

 Invol. umbilicate, or kidney shape, fixed 



in the centre Aspidium. 4. 



Invol. sharp-pointed, open from top to 



bottom Cyclopteris. 5. 



Invol. attached to one side, open towards 

 the margin Athyrium. 6. 



c. Invol. Jlxcd on one side, opening to the 

 inidrih; sori linear. Avpleniacece, d. 

 Sori separate ; originating laterally from 

 a rib Aspi.enium. 7. 



d. Invol. double, opening by a longitudinal 

 Jissure; sori lijiear. Scolopendria', e. 

 Sori oblique, parallel to each other 

 between the veins of the frond Scolopendrium. 8, 



