366 FERN FAMILY. 



rhomboid-ovate, very often halberd-shaped, the end ones of the primary pnniB 

 much the largest, often I'-a' long and i'-V broad; stalk and branches black 

 and polished, smooth ; involucre rather narrow. 



9. WOOBWAEDIA, CHAIN-FERN. (Named in honor of Thomas J. 

 Woodward, an English botanist of the last century. ), A small genus of rather 

 large Ferns, all natives of the N. temperate zone. 



W. Virginica. Tall, growing in swamps N. & S. : sterile and fertile 

 fronds alike, ovate in outline, pinnate, with lanceolate deeply pinnatifid pinnse ; 

 lobes oblong, obtuse ; veins reticulated, forming a single row of meshes along 

 the midribs of pinnae and of lobes, the outer veinlets free ; fruit-dots oblong, 

 close to the midribs. 



W. angUStifblia. Range, &c. of the last, but less common : fronds 6 '- 

 10' long, 4'-6' broad, pinnatihd almost to the winged rhachis into 17-27 lobes, 

 which are broadly lanceolate and with copiously reticulated veins In the sterile 

 frond, but are narrowly linear in the fertile, and with a single row of narrow 

 meshes next the midrib ; fruit>dots linear^ sausage-shaped, one iii £ach mesh. 



10. DOODIA. (Named in honor of Samud Doody, an early English Crypto- 

 gamic botanist.) Small Ferns, cult, from Australia and New Zealand. 



D. caud&ta. Fronds 9' -15' long, linear-lanceolate, on dull-black nearly 

 smooth stalks, pinnate with many linear serrate and nearly sessile pinnae, which 

 are about I'long, often slightly auriculate at base, the lower ones rather trian- 

 gular, distant ; fruit-dots in a single row next the midrib. 



D. &spera. Stalk black and rough with small ragged points ; fronds broadly 

 lanceolate, rather coriaceous, harsh to the touch, pinnatifid to the rhachis; di- 

 visions crowded, oblong-linear, spinulose-serrate, lower ones gradually smaller; 

 fruit-dots not close to the midrib, sometimes a second row next the mai^in. 



11. ASPLENIUM, SPLEENWORT. (Name from the Greek; refers to 

 supposed action on the spleen.) A very large genus, the size of the species 

 ranging from quite small up to very large and even tree-like. 



§ 1. Fronds undivided, large and showy: cult, from East Indies, Ipc. 



A. ITldUS, Bikd's-nest Fkek. Fronds numerous, broadly lanceolate, 

 2° - 4° lonji, 4' - 8' wide, entire, short-stalked, arranged in a crown around the 

 central upright rootstook ; fruit-dots very narrow, elongated, crowded, running 

 from the stout midrib obliquely half-way to the margin. 



§ 2. Fronds small, pitmatifid below, tapering into a long entire point • native. 



A. pinuatifldum. Very rare, near Philadelphia, and sparingly W. & S., 

 especially along the AUeghanies : fronds 3' - 6' long, J" - 14' wide at the base; 

 lobes roundish-ovate mostly obtuse ; fruit-dots small, irregular. 

 § 3. Fronds simply pinnate. 

 « Small Ferns, 4'-15' high: all except the last are wild species. 



A. Tricll6lliaiies. Common, forming dense tufts in crevices of shady 

 rocks : fronds linear, 4' -8' long, with black and shining stalk and rhachis, and 

 many roundish or oblong slightly crenated or entire pinnae, about 4' long and 

 about half as broad ; fruit-dots few to each pinna. 



A. eb^neuiu. Common in rocky woods : fronds linear-lanceolate, nar- 

 rower at the base, 8'- 15' long, 1'- 2' wide; stalk dark and polished; pinnae 

 many, linear-oblong, often slightly curved, finely serrate, auricled on one or 

 both sides at the base ; fruit-dots numerous. 



A. flabellifblium. Cult, from Australia : lax, the rhachis often pro- 

 longed and rooting at the very end ; fronds linear ; pinnae sharply wedge-shaped 

 at the base, the broad and rounded end crenated ; fruit-dots irregularly radiatr 

 ing from the base of the pinnse. 



* * Large Ferns, 1° -3° high. 

 A. angustifblium. Rich woods N., and S., msunly along the mountains ; 

 fronds thin, long-lanceolate, pinnae many 3' - 4' long, linear-lanceolate from a 



