136 



The original description and comment are as follows : 

 *' Aspidium cristatum var. Clintoniamim. (In A. Gray Manual of 



Botany Edition 5. 665. 1867.) 



Frond in every way larger (2j4°-4° long); pinnae oblong- 

 lanceolate, broadest at the base (4' -6' long, i' -2' broad) deeply 

 pinnatifid, the divisions (8-16 pairs) crowded or distant, linear- 

 oblong , obtuse, obscurely serrate or cut-toothed, the basal ones 

 sometimes pinnately lobed ; veins pinnately forking, the lowest 

 anterior veinlets \iQ2inn^ fnut-dots near the niidvein ; indusium 

 orbicular with shallow sinus, smooth and naked. Swampy 

 woods. New England to New Jersey, New York (G. W. Clinton, 

 &c.), and westward. July. 



Rootstock stout, creeping, chaffy (like the stipes) with large 

 bright brown scales. A showy Fern, unlike any European form 

 of A. cristatum, and often mistaken for A. Goldianum." 



As thus drawn, the description is apparently based both on 

 the Clinton specimen, and on other material, presumably that 

 cited above. The Clinton specimen probably contributed the 

 maximum number of piimulae as given (16) — the other material, 

 the shape of the pinnae, " broadest at the base," and the mini- 

 mum number of pinnulae (8). As a matter of fact, the pinnae 

 of the Clinton specimen are not broadest at the base, but are 

 mostly of equal width toward the middle or even broader there. 

 This character, together with the numerous pinnulae — in so- 

 called Z>. Clintoniatia Yd^rely diS many as 12-14 — the numerous 

 sori per pinnula (mostly 8-9), and the general cutting relate the 

 original Clinton fern to Dryopteris Goldiana rather than to D. cris- 

 tata or its so-called variety, Professor Eaton's opinion to the con- 

 trary notwithstanding. Positive proof of this relationship is to 

 be found in the cell-structure of the indusia which are unmistak- 

 ably of the Goldiana type, and not to be confused with those of 

 D. Clintoniana so-called. That the specimen represents straight 

 D. Goldia7ia is unlikely. It seems more reasonable to consider 

 it as probably a cross, perhaps with the D. Clintoniana of recent 

 authors. An illustration of a leaf collected by Mr. Macy Car- 

 hart near Lodi, N. J., and identified as this cross, is included for 

 comparison (Figure 2). Further evidence that the Clinton speci- 



