190 The Fern Lover's Companion 



sporangia, which are similar to those of curly grass, and 

 fixed to a veinlet by the inner side next the base, one or 

 rarely two covered by each indusium. (From the Greek 

 meaning like a willow twig [pliant], alluding to the flexible 

 stipes.) 



Fifty years ago this beautiful fern was more common 

 than at present. There was a considerable colony in a 

 low, allu^'ial meadow thicket at North Hadley, Mass., not 

 far from Mt. Toby, where we collected it freely in 1872. 

 Many used to decorate their homes with its handsome 

 sprays, draping it gracefully o^'er mirrors and pictures. 

 It was known locally as the Hartford fern. Greedy 

 spoilers ruthlessly robbed its colonies and it became scarce, 

 at least in the Mt. Toby region. In Connecticut a law 

 was enacted in 1867 for its protection and with good 

 results. But as Mr. C. A. Weatherby states in the 

 American Fern Journal (Vol. II, No. 4), the encroachments 

 of tillage (mainly of tobacco, which likes the same soil), 

 are forcing it from its cherished haunts, thus jeopardizing 

 its survi^'al. Doubtless an aggressi^'e agriculture is in 

 part responsible for its scarcity in the more northern 

 locality. It is still found here and there in New England, 

 New York and New Jersey; also in Kentucky, Tennessee 

 and Florida, but is nowhere common. The fertile porticm 

 dies when the spores mature, but the sterile frondlets 

 remain green through the winter. A handsome species 

 for the fernery in the house or out of doors. 



