72 OUR NATIVE FERNS AND THEIR ALLIES. 



\ \ Spores maturing in autumn , leaf long-stalked. 

 I Ultimate leaf-segments laciniate, narrow, y or less wide. 



9. B. dissectum Spreng. — Plant 6' — 15' high, with slender 

 fleshy stems. Leaf long-stalked from near the base of the 

 stem, with broadly deltoid basal divisions, decompound ; sec- 

 ondary pinnae lanceolate from a broader base, pinnate with 

 laciniate and deeply cut pinnules, the ultimate divisions diver- 

 gent, often 2-toothed at their apices, usually less than i mm. 

 wide ; sporophyll long-stalked, 2 — 3-pinnate ; bud pilose, en- 

 closed in the base of the stem, both portions bent in vernation. 

 New England (where a more compact variety is more common) 

 to Virginia and inland to Kentucky and Indiana. 



1 II Leaf-segments small, rounded, or obliquely ovate, i^" — 3" 

 wide ; plant small {leaf l' — 2' wide). 



10. B. matricariae(Schrank) Spreng. Plant 4' — 6' high, with 

 slender fleshy stems ; leaf moderately short-stalked, ternate, 

 small, 1' — 2' wide and high, the three divisions similar, bipin- 

 natifid or bipinnate; ultimate segments small, i^ — 3" wide, 

 rounded or somewhat obliquely ovate, the margins undulate or 

 crenate; sporophylls rather long-stalked for the size of the 

 plant, 2 — 3-pinnate with large sporanges ; bud pilose. Northern 

 New England and New York and northward. 



I III Leaf-segments oiliguely ovate, large, 5"- 10" long. (Eastern.) 

 obllquum Muhl. Plant robust, 7' — 20' high; leaf 

 rising from near the base on a stalk 3': — 4' 

 long or more, ternate with the three divisions 

 nearly equal, bipinnate or somewhat tripin- 

 natifid in larger forms, the ultimate segments 

 obliquely ovate or oblong-lanceolate, the 

 terminal one of each division elongate, all 

 5" — 10" long, 2 J" — 4" wide, the margins cre- 

 nate or serrate ; sporophyll long-stalked tri- 

 quadripinnate ; bud densely pilose, both por- 

 tions bent in vernation. (B. ternatum in 

 part, of former editions, not of Swz., which 

 was Thunberg's Osmtinda ternata from Japan.) 

 New Brunswick to Florida and Mexico and 

 westward to Minnesota. 



Var. intermedium (D. C. Eaton) Underw. 

 Plant larger, the leaf on a shorter stalk i' — 2' 



II. B. 



Fig. 35. — Vernation 

 of B. obliguum Muhl. 

 (After Davenport.) 



