THE SENSITIVE AND OSTRICH FERNS. 
; OTANISTS have always been 
DB divided in opinion as to 
whether the ostrich and sen- 
sitive ferns should be con- 
sidered members of the same 
family. They have an un- 
mistakable likeness and must 
be considered as cousins if not 
of nearer kinship. The princi- 
pal differences are that one has 
a running rootstock, scattered 
fronds and anastomosing veins, 
while the other has an upright rootstock, fronds in 
crowns and free veins. The first is the type of Oxoclea, 
the second of Struthiopteris. Onoclea is named from two 
Greek words meaning a vessel and ‘to close, in allusion 
to the berry-like, fruiting pinnules.  Szruthiopteris is 
also from the Greek and may be literally translated as 
ostrich fern. As modern botanists view them, there is 
but a single species of Oxoclea in the world, and but two 
of Struthiopteris. 
The Sensitive Fern. 
The sensitive fern (Oxoclea sensibilis) is one of our 
most abundant species. Wherever the soil is moist, in 
woodland, thicket and the open field, it is likely to occur, 
