GENERA AND SPECIES. 77 
PLATE XXV. 
CAMPTOSORUS RHIZOPHYLLUS. Link. 
WALKING-LEAF FERN. 
The first impression of the amateur botanist on seeing 
this plant would scarcely lead him to believe that it is a 
fern at all. It does not have the appearance of a fern; 
but an examination of the fruit-patches and other peculiar 
features of the fern tribe will soon set him right. The 
veins of the leaf are somewhat different from most ferns, 
but still retain their general characteristics. It has a simple 
frond, auricled at the base. ‘The auricles are sometimes 
quite long. The frond possesses the peculiarity of rooting 
at the apex. ‘Tapering into a long, narrow prolongation, 
it bends down among the mosses, and very often takes root. 
Two and three generations are often found springing from 
the parent plant. The Asplenium pinnatifidum has some- 
times a slender prolongation, and has even been reported 
as rooting at the point; but this peculiar mode of growth 
in the Asplenium lacks verification. The Walking-leaf 
bears some resemblance to the Hart-tongue Fern (Scol- 
pendrium), but the leaves of the latter have free veins, and 
are blunt at their apices. The Walking-leaf Fern is an 
evergreen, and the best specimens are often collected in 
the winter. It is found in all our Kentucky woods where- 
ever there are detached, moss-covered bowlders, on out- 
cropping rocks and cliffs, either limestone or sandstone. 
It has about the same habitat as the Asplenium ebeneum. 
This plant is well named on account of its singular mode 
of attachment to the soil. It is of easy cultivation, either 
in mounds or in the Wardian case, and is especially suit- 
able for rock-work. 
