GENERA AND SPECIES. IIl3 
PLATE XLITI. 
WOODSIA OBTUSA. Torrey. 
OBTUSE-LEAVED WOoOopDsIA. 
This fern might possibly be mistaken for the Common 
Bladder Fern (Cystopterts fragilis). It has the same general 
appearance, grows to about the same size, and has some- 
what the same habitat. But these ferns have no relation- 
ship. The frond is lanceolate, broader than in the Cystop- 
teris, and the stipe and pinne are glandular-hairy. The 
indusium of this species differs somewhat from that repre- 
sented in the magnified view of W. Ilvensis (Plate XLIV), 
splitting into jagged lobes, instead of being lacerated into a 
fringe of bristly, chaffy hairs. It is the Aspidium obtusum 
of Willdenow, and the Polypodium obtusum of Swartz.* 
The Obtuse-leaved Woodsia is frequently met with in 
Kentucky in exposed situations, being better able to endure 
the direct rays of the sun than most ferns. In such places 
the pinne are often very much contracted, so that they 
seem to be crisp, and apparently quite rolled up. I ob- 
tained the best specimens of this fern from exposed, out- 
cropping rocks on Beargrass Creek, Jefferson County. The 
tufted roots were deeply imbedded in the soil of the larger 
crevices. 
The Woodsia grows well in mounds, on rock-work, in 
hanging-baskets, or in the Wardian case. 
* See Willd. Sp. Pl. V,-p. 254, and Swartz, Synop. Filic. 39. 
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