rpnilP V FERTILE AMD STERILE FRONDS LEAF-LIKE AND SIMILAR ; 

 UKUUr V SPORANGIA IN LINEAR OR OBLONG FRUIT - DOTS 



ping down its long, green fronds into the cool 

 and limpid water of roadside wells hewn out of the 

 rock ; often exposed to the full blaze of the sun, 

 but always in such cases dwindled down to a tiny 

 size " (" The Fern Paradise"). 



The Hart's Tongue has been known as the Cater- 

 pillar Fern and the Seaweed Fern. 



36. VIRGINIA CHAIN FERN 



Woodwardia Virginica 



Swampy places, often in deep water, from Maine to Florida. Two 

 to more than three feet high. 



Fronds. — Once-pinnate ; pinna pinnatifid, with oblong seg- 

 ments ; fruit-dots oblong, in chain-like rows along the midrib 

 both of the pinnae and of the lobes, confluent when ripe ; indusimn 

 fixed by its outer margin, opening on the side next the midrib. 



Emerging from the shade and silence of a little 



wood upon the rolling downs where one has 



glimpses of the blue bay, our attention is attracted 



by a tall fern beside the path, growing among a 



tangle of shrubs and vines. It does not grow in 



symmetrical crowns or tufts like an Osmiinda, but 



its fronds are almost as handsome, the divisions 



being wider apart and more scattered. Turning 



over two or three of the rather glossy fronds, we 



find a rusty-backed, fertile frond, covered on one 



side with the regular chain-like rows of fruit-dots 



which make its name of Chain Fern seem very 



appropriate and descriptive. 



156 



