THE WOOD FERNS. 147 
The Fragrant Fern, 
The fragrant fern (Aspidium fragrans) cannot be 
mistaken for any of its relatives, but there are many 
collectors who would gladly mistake it for anything, if 
by so doing, they might add it to their collections. It 
is a rare and_ hardy little 
se species, growing in clefts in 
: the face of precipices in the 
northern parts of our country 
and yields only to the en- 
during and persistent fern hunter. 
The fronds are usually not 
more than, eight inches long and 
grow in circular tufts. They are 
narrowly lanceolate and _ twice 
pinnate, the oblong pinnules being 
deeply toothed. The short stipes 
that bear them are covered more 
or less thickly with chaffy brown 
scales. Both sides of the frond are glandu- 
lar, the under surface most so. The sori 
are borne on the narrow pinnules and are 
covered with unusually large membrana- 
ceousindusia. These often entirely conceal 
x whole under surface of the frond. 
A collector who has had 
fe the pleasure of finding this 
@-» fern in a new station, thus 
HRAGRANY FHRN. writes of it in the Fern Bul. 
Aspidium fragrans. letin. “There could be no 
possible question of its identity, this time. It was way 
up on the bare dry face of the cliff, far out of reach ex. 
