68 The Fern Lover's Co.mpaxiox 



Fronds twice pinnate, lanceolate with oblong, pinnatifitl 

 pinnules; seven to fifteen inches tall, slender and rough 

 with rusty, jointed hairs. Pinnfe triangular-ovate, usually 

 distant, the ends of the rounded lobes reflexed and forming 

 separate involucres which are pushed back by the ripening 

 sporangia. 



This species like the other lij) ferns is fond of rocks, 

 springing from clefts and ledges. While hairy it is much 

 less tomentose than the two following species. Unlike 

 most of the rock-loving ferns this species is not partial to 

 limestone, but grows on other rocks as well. It has been 

 found as far north as New Haven, Conn., also near New 

 York, and in New Jersey, Georgia, and westward to 

 Wyoming and southward. 



(.3) Woolly Lip Fern. Cheildnthes tomenfbsa 



Fronds eight to eighteen inches long, lanceolate-oblong, 

 tripinnate. Pinnae and pinnules ovate-oblong, densely 

 woolly especially beneath, with slender, whitish, obscurely 

 jointed hairs. Of the ultimate segments the terminal one 

 is twice as long as the others. Pinnules di.stant, the 

 reflexed, narrow margin forming a continuous, membra- 

 nous indusium. Stipe stout, dark brown, densely woolly. 



By donning its thick coat of wool this species is pre- 

 pared to grow in the most exposed situations of the arid 

 southwest. It is said to l>e the "rarest, tallest and hand- 

 somest of the lip ferns." 



Mountains of Virginia and Kentucky to Georgia, and 

 west to Missouri, Texas and Arizona. 



