The Fern Lover's Companion 121 



THE BEECH FERNS 



The beech ferns are often chissed with tlie polypodies, 

 because, Hke them, they have no indusium; liut in other 

 ways they are more akin to the wood ferns. Tlieir stipes 

 are not jointed to the rootstoclv, nor arc their sori at the 

 ends of the veins as in tlie ])olypodies. We here place 

 them with the wood ferns, retaining the familiar name 

 Pkegopteri.f but giving Thelypteris as a synonym. The 

 fruit-dots are small, round and naked, borne on the back 

 of the veins below the ai)ex. Stipe continuous with the 

 rootstock. Veins free. (The name Phegopteris in Greek 

 means oak or beech fern.) 



(1) Oak Fern 

 Phcgopleris drijoptcris. Thevlpteris dryopterts 



Fronds glabrous, broadly triangular, ternatc, four to 

 seven inches broad, the di^•isions widely s])reading, each 

 division ])innate at the base. Segments ol)long, obtu.se, 

 entire or toothed. Fruit-dots near the margin. Root- 

 stock slender and creeping from ^\'hich fronds are pro- 

 duced all summer, in appearance like the small, ternate 

 divisions of the bracken. 



This dainty fern has fronds of a delicate yellow-green, 

 "the greenest of all green things growing."" Its ternate 

 character is shown even in the uncoiling of the fronds, the 

 three round balls suggesting the sign of the pawnbroker. 

 The parts of the oak fern de^'elop with great regularity, 

 each pinna, pinnule and lobe ha^'ing another exactly 

 opposite to it nearly always. In rocky woods, common 

 northward; also in Virginia, Kansas and Colorado. A 



