84 ASPIDIUM FRAGRANS.—SWEET SHIELD-FERN. 
scented, Planted in a select position it will do very well 
indeed.” 
The tea made from the leaves is referred to by various authors 
as very agreeable, and Professor Eaton says some writers have 
compared the fragrance of the plant to that of raspberries. 
Our space will not permit of an extended analysis of its more 
purely botanical points of interest. From Lolypodium fragrans 
it was made Aspidium fragrans by Swartz in 1771; and this is 
generally followed by American authors, though it will be found 
as Lastrea jragrans in most English works. Various authors 
speak of it as Nephrodium, or Polystichum. It varies much in 
the forms and characters of its fronds, as indeed we must pre- 
pare ourselves to expect with most species of ferns. In 
specimens before us from Alaska collected by W. W. Harrington 
on Dall's exploring expedition of 1871 and 1872, the main 
rachis and those of the divisions of the frond are slender and 
hair-like, while Wisconsin specimens of Hale and Lapham have a 
very coarse and heavy look. Our illustration from a specimen 
growing under the care of Mr. Jackson Dawson, of the Arnold 
Arboretum, Mass., shows a fair average form. 
EXPLANATIONS OF THE PLATE.—1. A plant divested of its old nest-like leaves. 2. A pinnule 
very much enlarged. 3. Portion of the under side of a pinnule, showing the remark- 
ably scaly rachis. 4. A lobe very much enlarged, showing the indusium as well charac- 
terized in Dr, Gray’s description, and also the resinous dots. 
