92' Muhlenbergia, Volume 8 



NEW SOUTHWESTERN FERNS 

 By Leslie N. Goodding 



Southern Arizona is especially rich in ferns. Its arid and 

 isolated ranges produce them in great variety and beauty. After 

 collecting ferns from this section for several seasons and study- 

 ing them with inadequate library and herbarium facilities, I de- 

 cided to send my collections to Dr. Nelson, of the University of 

 Wyoming, along with some notes and descriptions I had made. 

 As a result I submit this paper. 



AsPLENiUM PARVULUM graiidideiitatuin var. nov. 



Rootstock short, sparingly clothed with black scales: stipes 

 tufted, very short, i to 3 cm., cherry-black, shining, rather frag- 

 ile; rachis similar: frond linear, 10 to i5cni. long, i to 1.5cm. 

 wide, pinnate: pinnae 20 to 30 pairs, mostly opposite, ovate to 

 oblong, prominently auricled above and occasionally below, 

 deeply dentate around the entire margin, sessile: sori compara- 

 tively long, 5 to 8 on each pinna, oblique, opening toward the 

 midvein midway between it and the margin. 



Asplenium canyon, Mule mountains, Cochise county, Ari- 

 "zona, in deep protected canyons, August, 191 1. ( No. gyS. 



This certainly seems distinct from A. parvuhim^ but owing 

 to the weakn^essfjof words to express what is evident to the eye, 

 it is here left as a iyarietv. 



AspleiiiiiHi riipiuni sp. nov. 

 Roots numerous, long filiform: rootstock short, ascending, 

 covered with rather soft dark scales: stipes siiort, i to 3 cm., 

 green to dark brown: frond elliptical, acuminate at both ends, 

 15 to 20cm. long, 4 to 6 cm. wide, pinnate: pinnae 12 to 20 

 pairs, alternate, oblong, tapering slightly toward the apex, ob- 

 tuse, broadest at the sessile base, the bases of adjoining pinnae 

 more or less confluent, margins entire: sori linear, 5 to 10 mm. 

 long, 8 to 16 on each pinna, oblique to the midvein and opening 

 toward it: rachis sparingly clothed beneath with scales made up 

 of numerous anastamosing veins; except for these and those of 

 the stipe the plant glabrous throughout. 



