56 The Fekx Lover's Companion 



tributed, being found througliout our section, westward to 

 California, and northward to the British Pro^-inees. 



"Though the niaidenliair has a wide range, and grows 

 abundantly in many localities, it i)ossesses a C|uality of 

 aloofness which adds to its charm. Its cho.sen haunts are 

 dim, moist hollows in the woods, or shaded hillsides sloping 

 to the river. In such retreats you find the feathery fronds 

 trenudous on their glistening stalks, and in their neigh- 

 borhood you find, also, the very spirit of the woods." 



]Mrs. Parsons. 



'I'he fern is not hard to cultivate if allo\Acd sufficient 

 moisture and shade. Along with the ostrich fern it makes 

 a most excellent combination in a fern border. 



\'ar. .Vliouticum, or Alpine Maidenhair. A beautiful 

 northern form especially aliundant on the high tal)leland 

 of the (ias])e Peninsula, Quebec, where it is said to co^■er 

 hundreds of acres. In the east it is often dwarfed - six 

 to ten inches high, growing in tufts with stout rootstocks, 

 having the pinnules finely toothed instead of rounded and 

 the indusia often lunate, rarely twice as long as broad. 

 (Feruald in Nlioilora, Nov(Muber, 100.").) Also found in 

 northern ^\'rmont, and to the northwestward. 



(2) The \'eni's-uaii{ Fern. AiUaniiim CajnUu.^-l'euvris 



Fronds with a continuous main rachis, ovate-lanceolate, 

 twice pinnate lielow. rinnulcs fan-shaped on slender, 

 black stalks, long, dee))ly and irregularly incised. \'eins 

 extending from tlie base of tlie ])inmdes like the ribs of 

 a fan. 



While our connnon maidenhair is a northern fei'u, the 

 Venus-hair Fern is confined to the southern states. It is 



