woo 



crenatis, virginiana ; Pluk. Almag. 151. Phyt- t. 179. 

 f. 2.)— Frond pinnate; leaflets feffile, deeply pmnatifid, 

 with fpreading, obtufe, (lightly crenate lobes. Rows of 

 fruiftification accompanying their mid-rib as well as the ribs 

 of the lobes.— In the/wamps and (hady woods of Virginia 

 and Carolina. Purjh. We received it from Kew garden 

 in 1785. The fruaification is perfefted m July and Au- 

 guft. The frond is eighteen inches, or more, in height, 

 with a pale fmooth/a/i. Ltajiets alternate, above a finger's 

 length, and about an inch, or more, in width, bright green, 

 fmooth; their numerous fegments fpreading moderately 

 from each other, forming an acute angle at the bafe ; their 

 margin is fomewhat revolute, and very obfcurely crenate. 

 Fruaification moll abundant on the leaflets of the upper half 

 of the frond, forming lines all along their principal rib, at 

 each fide, as well as along the rib of each fegment ; the 

 groups finally confluent. The depreffions in which the 

 groups are feated are very flight, though not imperceptible, 

 and the Involucrum of each is narrower, lefs vaulted, and 

 fooner turned afide, than in any other fpecies with which 

 we are acquainted, fo that the prefent plant is in fome mea- 

 fure intermediate between Woodiuardia and Doodia. Per- 

 haps it may prove thefe two genera not to be diftindl, but 

 while they remain fo, we concur with Mr. Brown in keeping 

 this fpecies where it is. Plukenet's figure was drawn by 

 Mr. Baniiler, the original difcoverer of this fern. 



^. W. thelypterioides. Small Woodwardia. Purfli n. 3. 



" Frond pinnate ; leaflets feffile, hnear-lanceolatc, pin- 



natifid ; villous at the bafe : fegments of the barren ones 

 oblong and bluntifh ; of the fertile ones (hortened, triangular, 

 and acute ; all entire. Stalk downy, angular." — In fandy 

 fwamps of South Carolina, near Charleilown, fruftifying 

 in July. Refembles the preceding, but is not half the fize. 

 Purjb. 



6. W. Jimbriata. Fringed Woodwardia. — Frond pin- 

 nate; leaflets feffile, deeply pinnatifid, with fpreading, 

 rather acute, lobes, fringed with fharp teeth — Gathered 

 by Mr. Menzies, on the well coaft of North America. 

 This is larger in every part than /K. virgimca, and diftin- 

 guiftied from that fpecies by its more acute fegments, whofe 

 margin is very confpicuoufly and copioufly fringed with 

 prickly teeth, direfted towards the point. Groups of cap- 

 fules large and turgid, ranged, a little obliquely, along the 

 ribs of the fegments, from three to five pair on each feg- 

 ment, none at the mid-rib of the leaflet itfelf. Involucrum 

 ftrongly and permanently vaulted. The bottom lobe of 

 each leaflet, at the lower fide, is fliortened, dilated, and 

 half heart -(haped, as is more rarely the cafe in W. virginica. 

 Several of the upper leaflets are decurrent and confluent ; the 

 top ones undivided, and barren. 



7. W. radlcans. Rooting-ftalked Woodwardia. Sm. 

 n. 4. Swartz n. 5. WiUd. n. 5. Ait. n. i. " Schkuhr 

 Crypt. 104. t. 112." (Blechnum radicans ; Linn. Mant. 

 307, excluding the reference to Plukenet, fee W. virginica. 

 Filix italica non ramofa maxima glabra, polypodii folio, 

 gallas ferens, D. Micheli ; Till. Pif. 62. t. 24.) 



/S. W.Jlans. Swartz n. 6. "Schkuhr Crypt. 104. 

 t. 113." liquid. — Frond pinnate; leaflets nearly feffile, 

 deeply pinnatifid, with parallel, taper-pointed, (harply fer- 

 rated lobes. — Native of deep clayey filTures of rocks in 

 Madeira, according to Koenig. Found alfo in Italy and 

 Portugal. A hardy greenhoufe plant in England, and one 

 of the moft handfome of its tribe. The fronds are two or 

 three feet high, and a foot and a half or near two feet in 

 breadth, of a fine green, fmooth, beautifully reticulated 

 with veins, each main ftalk producing at the back, near the 

 top, a round fcaly bud, or bulb, the origin of a young 



WOO 



plant. Leaflets generally alternate, often a fpan long, fome- 

 v/hat peftinate, with a long very flender point ; their 

 numerous fegments more or lefs crowded, flightly curved, 

 lanceolate, minutely and (harply ferrated, each tapering to 

 a (harp elongated point. Groups of capfules about feven 

 pair on each fegment, ( none at the mid-rib of the leaflet, ) 

 clofe, dire£l, fcarcely ever at all divaricated, turgid, pale 

 brown, the cavities in which they lie very neatly and con- 

 fpicuoufly bordered : uppermoR leaflets fimple and con- 

 fluent, as in the foregoing fpecies. We know not how the 

 W.Jlans, which Cavanilles feems, by Swartz's work, to 

 have firll noticed, is fuppofed to differ from the radicans ; 

 but WiUdenow afferts, on a comparifon of numerous fpeci- 

 mens, from different countries, that there is no fpecific dif- 

 tinftion between them. 



8. W,, difpar. Various-leaved Woodwardia. Willd. 

 n. 7. ( Filix latifolia, pinnulis fere acuminatis, dentata ; 

 Plum. Fil. 13. t. 16.) — Fronds pinnate; leaflets feffile, 

 lanceolate, pointed, pinnatifid, with elliptic -lanceolate, en- 

 tire lobes. Fruftihcation crowded on the much fmaller 

 lobes, of a feparate narrower frond. — Found by Plumier ia 

 Martinico. WiUdenow appears to have adopted this fpeciea 

 entirely from Plumier, a hazardous meafure, as its genus 

 can only be gueffed from analogy. The barren fronds ap- 

 proach the lall fpecies in lize, but their fegments are fliorter, 

 entire, rather obtufe, and by no means taper-pointed. 

 Thofe fronds which bear fruit have leaflets fimilar in fhape 

 and lobes to the others, but about one-third as large, at 

 moft, bearing a fimple crowded row ol fruaification clofe to 

 the rib of each fegment. The groups of capfules are fome- 

 what elliptical, and there is nothing adverfe to the generic 

 charafter of a Woodiuardia ; but, on the other hand, there 

 is no particular indication of that charafter. 



The root is defcribed above an inch thick, and fix inches 

 in length ; externally black, with feveral vermicular branch- 

 ing fibres, clothed with tawny or golden pubefcence. 

 Stalk of each frond near eighteen inches high, pale brown 

 and fmooth, leafy from its middle part to the fummit, 

 where it terminates in a large ereft leaflet, conftrufted ex- 

 aftly like the reft, being equal in fize to the larger lateral 

 ones, and confiderably exceeding thofe immediately belowr 

 it. Such is the habit of IV. angujlifolia, but not of the 

 other fpecies in general. 



WOODY Fibrous Matter, in Agriculture, that which is 

 produced from fmall particles of different forts of woody 

 lubftances. 



When merely formed of thefe parts, it is fuppofed to ba 

 the only vegetable matter that requires the aid of ferment- 

 ation to render it nutritive to plants. The ufed bark of 

 the tanner is a fubllance of this fort, which is very ab- 

 forbent and retentive of moifture, but not penetrable by the 

 roots of plants. See Taxmers' Barh. 



Woody fibrous matter may likewife be prepared fo as to 

 become a manure, by the adlion of lime upon it. 



It is obferved in the " Elements of Agricultural Che- 

 miilry," that as woody fibre confifts principally of the ele- 

 ments of water and carbon, the latter being in larger 

 quantities than in the other vegetable compounds, any pro- 

 cefs that tends to abllraft carbonaceous matter from it, 

 muft bring it nearer in compofition to the foluble principles ; 

 and that this is done in fermentation, by the ablorption of 

 oxygen and produftion of carbonic acid ; and that a fimilar 

 effeft is produced by lime. See Lime. 



Woody Nightjhade. See Nightshade. 



Woody Head, in Geography, a high cape on the coaft 

 of New Zealand, in the South Pacific ocean. S, lat. 



37° 42'- 



Woody 



