FERN FAMILY 91 



BLUNT-LOBED "WOODSIA. 



IVoodsia obtusa. 



Frond nearly twice pinnate, the pinnae rather 

 remote when mature, and cut into oblong, ob- 

 tuse, crenately- toothed segments. The seg- 

 ments of the lower pinna; near the rachis are 

 pinnatifid with toothed lobes. The fronds are 

 broadly lanceolate in form, slightly narrowed at 

 the base, and minutely hairy, with stipe and 

 rachis slightly chaffy. 



This is the largest fern of this genus, being 

 from si.x to twelve inches high. It grows on 

 shaded, rocky banks and cliffs, and while not 

 exactly rare here in New England, it is by no 

 means a common species. Another name for it 

 is Obtuse Woodsia. It is found at its best in 

 early summer. When growing in the sun the 

 fronds thicken and become yellow. 



Blunt-lobed Woodsia is sometimes confused 

 with the Fragile Bladder Fern, but may be de- 

 termined by the sJiQi-t stipe, the triangular form 

 of the pinnae, and the bhintttcss of the pinnx- and 

 their divisions, — also by its minute hairiness. 



The fertile and sterile fronds are similar in 

 form, those fertile being in the middle of the 

 crown or tuft. The fruit-dots are round, large, 

 on or below the minutely toothed lobes, and 

 become confluent. They mature in July. The 



