14 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



as those of the middle of the barren frond. It is a native of Pennsylvania, 

 Hakodadi, Japan, and Assam, and is reported as found in Sikkim at 12,000ft. 

 elevation. As showing differences between this species and 0. germanica, 

 Correvon states (" Les Fougeres rustiques," p. 65) that the pinnules (leafits) 

 are much longer, and have also an oblong-spear-shape quite different ; that in 

 the " Jardin Alpin," where it has been grown for five years under similar 

 conditions, it is much more vigorous than 0. germanica, which, there, is 

 preserved alive only with great difficulty ; that the colour of its foliage is much 

 darker, and that the production of its fertile fronds is more backward than 

 in that species. — Hooker^ Second Century of Ferns, t. 4 ; Species. Filicum, iv., 

 p. 161. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, ii., p. 497. Correvon, Les 

 Fougeres rustiques, p. 65. 



0. sensibilis — sen-sib'-il-is (sensitive), Linnaeus. 



This beautiful Fern is undoubtedly one of the oldest, if not even the 

 very oldest, of exotic Ferns introduced to Europe, for, according to Lowe, it 



was imported in 1699 from North America. 

 Eaton says it is to this day found growing 

 wild in wet meadows and thickets from New 

 Brunswick to Saskatchewan, extending south- 

 ward through Dacotah, Kansas, and Arkansas 

 to Louisiana, and eastward to St. Augustine, 

 Florida ; and that it is in fact one of the 

 commonest Ferns of North America, often 

 occupying large patches of land, to the partial 

 exclusion of other plants. Though this highly 

 interesting Fern is not found in Western America 

 or in Europe, oddly enough, it frequently occurs 

 in Japan and Siberia. Its main attraction lies 

 in the pleasing, soft, pale green colour of the 

 lovely barren fronds, broadly triangular in 

 outline, long-stalked, and cut down nearly to the midrib into oblong-spear- 

 shaped leaflets, which are wavy or sHghtly toothed at the margins (Fig. 4). 

 The middle of the frond is winged from the basal or from the second pair 

 of leaflets, the wing at the base being very narrow, but gradually widening 



Fii. 4, Onoclea sensibilis, siiowing Habit 

 and Portions of Fertile Frond and 

 Barren Leaflet, 



(Habit, much reduced ; Portions, i nat. size 



