3G6 FEKN FAMILY. 



rhomboid-ovate, very often halberd-shaped, the end ones of th'e primary pinnso 

 much the largest, often I'-2' long and ^'-1' broad; stalk and branches black 

 and polished, smooth ; involucre rather narrow. 



9. WOODWABDIA, CHAIN-FERN. (Named in honor of Thomas J. 

 Woodward, an English botanist of the last century.) A small genus of rather 

 large Ferns, all natives of the N. temperate zone. 



W. Virginiea. Tall, growing in swamps N. & S. : sterile and fertile 

 fi'onds alike, ovate in outline, pinnate, with lanceolate deeply pinnatifid pinnas ; 

 lobes oblong, obtuse ; veins reticulated, forming a single row of meshes along 

 the midribs of pinnse and of lobes, the outer veinlets free; fruit-dots oblong, 

 close to the midribs. 



W. angustif61ia. Range, &c. of the last, but less common : fronds 6'- 

 10' long, 4' -6' broad, pinnatiSd almost to the winged rhachis into 17-27 lobes, 

 which are broadly lanceolate and with copiously reticulated veins in the sterile 

 frond, but are narrowly linear in the fertile, and with a single row of narrow 

 meshes next the midrib ; fruitdots linear, sausage-shaped, one ii» .each mesh. 



10. DOODIA. (Named in honor of Samuel Doody, an early English Crypto- 

 garaic botanist.) Small Ferns, cult from Australia and New Zealand. 



D. caud^ta. Fronds 9'-15' long, linear-lanceolate, on dull-black nearly 

 smooth stalks, pinnate with many linear serrate and nearly sessile pinnaj, which 

 are about I' long, often slightly auriculate at base, the lower ones rather trian- 

 gular, distant; frpit-dots in a single row next the midrib. 



D. ^spera. Stalk black and rough with small ragged points ; fronds broadly 

 lanceolate, rather coriaceous, harsh to the touch, pinnatind to the rhachis ; di- 

 visions crowded,, oblong-linear, spinulose-serrate, lower ones gradually smaller ; 

 fi-uit-dots not close to the midrib,, sometimes a second row next the margin. 



11. ASPLENIUM, SPLEENWORT. (Name from the Greek; refers to 

 supposed action on the splcien.) A very large genus, the size of the species 

 ranging from quite small up to very large and even tree-like. 



§ 1. Fronds undivided, large and showy: cult. from. East Indies, ^c. 



A. Ifldus, Bied's-nest Fern. Fronds numerous, broadly lanceolate, 

 2° -4° long, 4' -8' wide, entire, short-stalked, arranged in a crown around the 

 central upright rootstock ; fruit-dots very narrow, elongated, crowded, running 

 from the stout midrib obliquely half-way to the margin. 



§ 2. Fronds small, pinnaiifid below, tapering into a long entire point • native, 



A. pinnatifi.dum. Very rare, near Philadelphia, and sparingly W. & S., 

 especially along the AUeghanies : fronds 3' - 6' long, J" - 1 i' wide at the base ; 

 lobes roundish-ovato mostly obtuse; fruit-dots small, irregular. 

 § 3. Fronds simply pinnate. 

 * Small Ferns, 4' - 1 5' high: all except the last are wild species. 



A. Trich6manes. Common, forming dense tufts in crevices of shady 

 rocks : fronds linear, 4' -8' long, with black and shining stalk and rhachis, and 

 many roundish or oblong slightly crenated or entire pinnse, about i' long and 

 about half as broad ; fruit-dots few to each pinna. 



A. ebdneum. Common in rocky woods : fronds liuear-lanceolaft, nar- 

 rower at the base, 8'- 15' long, 1 '-2' wide; stalk dark and polished; pinnse 

 many, linear-oblong, often slightly curved, finely serrate, auricled on one or 

 both sides at the base ; fruit-dots numerous. 



A. flabellifblium. Cult, from Australia : lax, the rhachis often pro- 

 longed and rooting at the very end ; fronds linear ; pinnse sharply wedge-shaped 

 at the base, the broad and rounded end crenated ; fruit-dots irregularly radiat- 

 ing from the base of the pinnse. 



» * Large Ferns, l°-S°high. 

 A. angustif6Iium. Rich woods N., and S., mainly along the mountains : 

 fronds thin, long-lanceolate, pinnse many 3' - 4' long, linear-lanceolate from a 



