TRnilP VI FERTILE AND STERILE FRONDS LEAF-LIKE 

 OKUUr VI AND USUALLY SIMILAR; FRUIT-DOTS ROUND 



der, have succeeded in uprooting every plant 

 from the Fragrant Shield Fern Cliff on Mount 

 Mansfield. 



The fronds of the Fragrant Shield Fern grow in a 

 crown and the fertile ones fruit in great abundance. 



Eaton writes as follows touching the fragrance of 

 this fern and its use as a beverage : 



"The pleasant odor of this plant remains many 

 years in the herbarium. The early writers compare 

 the fragrance to that of raspberries, and Milde repeats 

 the observation. Hooker and Greville thought it 

 'not unlike that of the common primrose.' Maxi- 

 mowicz states that the odor is sometimes lacking. 

 Milde quotes Redowsky as saying that the Yakoots 

 of Siberia use the plant in place of tea ; and, having 

 tried the experiment myself, I can testify to the not 

 unpleasant and very fragrant astringency of the 

 infusion." 



The following delightful description of the Fra- 

 grant Shield Fern was written by Mr. C. G. Pringle, 

 and is taken from Meehan's " Native Flowers and 

 Ferns " : 



" In the several stations of Aspidium fragrans 

 among the Green Mountains which I have explored, 

 the plant is always seen growing from the crevices 

 or on the narrow shelves of dry cliffs — not often 

 such cliffs as are exposed to the sunlight, unless it 

 be on the summits of the mountains, but usually 

 such cliffs as are shaded by firs, and notably such 

 as overhang mountain-rivulets and waterfalls. When 

 I visit such places in summer, the niches occupied 



