370 FERN FAMILY. 



17. STEUTHIOPTERIS, OSTRICH-FERN (whicli the name means 

 in Greek, from the large piume-like sterile fronds). 



S. Gertna,niea. Alluvial grounds, N. : sterile fronds tall, 2° -5° high, 

 lanceolate, narrowed at the base into a short angular stalk, pinnate ; jrinna; 

 very many, narrowly lanceolate, pinnatifid more than half-way to the midrib ; 

 lobes numerous, oblong ; fertile fronds very much shorter, blackish, standing 

 erect after the others have withered. 



18. OTTOCLEA. SENSITIVE-FERN. (Name, from the Greek, mean- 

 ing a closed vessel, referring to the berry-like fructification.) The only species is 

 O. sensibilis. Common in wet places : sterile fronds of all sizes up to 2° 



high, broadly triangular-ovate, the rhachis winged ; pinnse not many, lanceolate, 

 entire or obtusely lobed less than half-way to the midrib, veins everywhere 

 reticulated ; fertile fronds with few closely appressed pinnae. 



19. W®6DSIA. (For ./oscp/i Woods, an English botanist.) 



' W. obttisa. Rocky places, from Carolina N. : fronds 6' - 18' high, slightly 

 ■glandular, broadly lanceolate, pinnSte with ovate or oblong deeply pinnatifid 



or again pinnate divisions f lobes oblong, obtuse ; indusium at first closedj 



opening into a f(^w ragged lobes. 



W. Ilv6nsis. Exposed rocks, common N., and along the Alleghanies: 



forms large tui'ts ; fronds 4' - 8' high, rusty chaffy beneath, oblong-lanceolate, 



pinnate ; divisions ovate, obtusely lobed ; indusium obscure, consisting of a 

 ' few jointed hairs. 



20. DAVALLIA. (Named for iW. DamZ/, a Swiss botanist.) Many trop- 

 ical or sub-tropical species, the following cult, in consei-vatories. 



D. Canari6nsis, Hare's-Foot-Fers, from the Canary Islands, etc.: 

 rootetock creeping above ground, covered with brownish scales, and looking not 

 unlike an animal's paw; fronds few, smooth, broadly triangular, 8'- 15' long 

 and about as wide,'3-4-pinnate; pinnules cut into a few narrow lobes ; these 

 are directed upwards, bearing at or just below the end a single fruit-dot ; indu- 

 sium whitish, deeply half-cup-shapcd. 



iJ. tenuifdlia, from India and China : rootstock creeping, crisp with short 

 chaffy -hairs ; fronds smooth, 1°- 2° high, broadly lanceolate, 3 - 4-pinnate ; 

 smallest divisions narrowly wedge-shaped, bearing at the truncated ends one or 

 two fruit-dots ; indusium brownish, mostly broader than deep. 



21. DICKSONIA. {¥ov James Dickson, an English botanist.) The spe- 

 cies all but one tropical or in the southern hemisphere. 



D. pxmotiI6bula. Moist shady places, from N. Carolina N. : rootstock 

 creeping; slender ; fronds scattered, thin, minutely glandular, pleasantly odor- 

 ous, lancelote, long-pointed, 2° - 3° high, mostly bipinnate ; pinnules pinnatifid ; 

 the divisions toothed, each bearing a minute fruit-dot at the upper margin ; 

 indusium globular. 



D. antarotiea. Tree-fern from New Zealand, a great ornament in large 

 conservatories : trunk 3' - 5' thick, sometimes many feet high, bearing in a 

 crown at the top many fronds, 6° - 9° long, 2° - 4° broad, coriaceous, twice 

 pinnate ; pinnules oblong, acute, pinnatifid ; the oblong-ovate divisions bearing 

 1-4 rather large fruit-dots ; indusium prominent, plainly two-valved. 



22. CYATHEA. (Name from the Greek word for a small cup, referring to 

 the involucre.) Tree-ferns from tropical countries. 



C. arborea. Rarely cult, from W. Indies : trunk sometimes 20° high, 

 stalk mostly light-brown, and without prickles or chaff'; fronds 4° - 1 0° long, 

 -bipinnate ; pinnae 1° - 2° long, 6' - 8' wide, lanceolate ; pinnules narrowly lance- 

 olate, spreading, pinnatifid to the midrib ; lobes oblong, slightly serrate, with 

 4-9 fruit-dots near the midvein ; involucre beautifully cup-shaped, the margin 

 entire. — Several other species, as well as one or two of the allied genus Hejii- 

 TELIA (with an imperfect involucre, veins often partly reticulated), are rarely 

 seen in conservatories. 



