GROUP IV 



FERTILE AND STERILE FRONDS LEAF-LIKE AND SIMILAR ; 

 SPORANGIA ON OR BENEATH A REFLEXED MARGIN 



But it is not easy to convince a friend that he has 

 made a mistake in this regard. You chance to be 

 driving by a bank overgrown w^ith the early mead- 

 ow rue when he calls your attention to the unusual 

 abundance of Maidenhair in the neighborhood. To 

 his rather indignant surprise you suggest that the 

 plant he saw was not Maidenhair, but the early 

 meadow rue. If he have the least reverence for 

 your botanical attainments he grudgingly admits 

 that possibly it was not the ordinary Maidenhair, 

 but maintains stoutly that it was a more uncom- 

 mon species which abounds in his especial neigh- 

 borhood. If truly diplomatic you hold your peace 

 and change the subject, but 

 if possessed by a torment- 

 ing love of truth which is 

 always getting you into 

 trouble, you state sadly but 

 firmly that our northeast- 

 ern States have but one spe- 

 cies of Maidenhair, and that 



it is more than improbable that the favored neighbor- 

 hood of his home (for it is always an unusually rich 

 locality) offers another. The result of this discus- 

 sion is that mentally you are pronounced both con- 

 ceited and pig-headed. For a few weeks the plants 

 in question are passed without comment, but by an- 

 other summer the rich growth of Maidenhair is again 

 proudly exhibited. Only in one way can you save 

 your reputation and possibly convince your friend. 



When correcting him, if you glibly remark that 



109 



A pinnule of Maidenhair 



