The Fern Lover's Companion 193 



Var. minus, smaller; fronds often in pairs. The 

 sterile segment yellowish-green, attached nsually much 

 below the middle of the plant . Sandy ground, New Hamp- 

 shire to New Jersey. 



Var. Engelmdnni. (Given specific rank in Gray.) 

 Has the sterile segment thicker and cuspidate, tlie stipe 

 slender and the secondary ^•eins ft)rming a fine network 

 within the meshes of the principal ones. Virginia and 

 westward. 



Var. arenurium. (From the Latin, arena, meaning 

 sand, being found in a sandy .soil.) Probably a depauper- 

 ate form of Ophioglossum vulyatum and about half as large. 

 A colony of these ferns was disco^•ered growing in poor 

 soil at Holly Beach, New Jersey. 



KEY TO THE GRAPE FERNS 



(I>()trl/:hium) 



Plant large, fruiting in June, sterile part much divided: 



Rattlesnake Fern. 

 Plant smaller: 



Fruiting in autumn, sterile j^art long-stalked, tri- 

 angular. Common Grape Fern. 

 Fruiting in summer: 



Plant fleshy, sterile part mostly with lunate segments. 



Moonwort. 

 Plant less fleshy, segments not lunate: 



Sterile part short-stalked above the middle 

 of the stem. Matricary Fern. 



Sterile part stalked usually below middle of 

 stem. Little Grape Fern. 



Sterile part sessile near the top of the stem. 

 Lance-leaved Grape Fern. 



