84 FERNS AND THEIR ALLIES 



WOODSIA. 



This genus was named for Joseph Woods, an 

 English botanist. 



RUSTY ■WOODSIA. 



Woodsia Ilvensis. 



Frond pinnate, the pinnse rather crowded, 

 and cut into oblong, obtuse, obscurely toothed 

 segments. It grows from three to six inches 

 high, with a jointed stipe at the base, an inch 

 or more from the root. It is at this joint that 

 the frond separates when it withers. 



The fern is somewhat heavy in texture, 

 smoothish and green above, — woolly or chaffy 

 beneath, the hairs gray at first, but becoming 

 rusty brown in color, whence its common name. 

 Another name it bears is Hairy Woodsia. 



The stipe and rachis are channeled. The 

 former is rich brown in color, often shading 

 into the rachis. Both are hairy-chaffy. 



Rusty Woodsia is not considered by some a 

 common species, and our experience harmonizes 

 with this view. Perhaps it can be termed fre- 

 quent. 



It grows in tufts, in exposed situations, on 

 rocks preferably, or in dry woods, in places too 

 dry for almost any other species to exist. When 

 found in moist places, as it occasionally may be, 



