GENERA AND SPECIES. 73 
PEATE: XSITE, 
ASPLENIUM FILIX-FCGQiMINA. Bernh. 
LADY FERN. 
Some authors do not consider the Lady Fern as a true 
Asplenium, since the fruit-dots, instead of being linear, are 
half-moon shaped. It is the Athyrium of some, and by 
others it is referred to the genus Aspidium. The draw- 
ing is from a young frond, and represents the pinnz 
rather wide apart; but it would require a much larger 
plate to show this lovely plant as it really appears. It 
is very graceful in outline, and possesses an exceedingly 
delicate green tint. The Lady Fern is by no means un- 
common in Kentucky, having been collected by myself in 
many localities, and by Dr. Short on the low grounds along 
the Red River, and at Crab Orchard, Lincoln County. 
This is the favorite fern of the poets. Sir Walter Scott 
thus alludes to it: 
‘¢ Where the copse-wood is the greenest, 
Where the fountain glistens sheenest, 
Where the morning dew lies longest, 
There the Lady Fern grows strongest.” 
The following description of this graceful fern, which 
applies as well to the species in this country, is taken from 
Moore’s “ Popular British Ferns:”’ 
“The Lady Fern claims precedence over every other 
British species on account of the exquisite grace of its 
habit of growth, the elegance of its form, and the deli- 
cacy of its hue. The habit of the plant is tufted, the cau- 
dex of the larger varieties often with age acquiring some 
height, and elevating the circle of fronds on a low, rude 
pedestal; this stem, however, never acquires more than a 
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