252 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:6— Sept., 1920 



The Walking Fern. Camptosorus 

 This quaint little fern likes rocky places. Its fronds measure 

 from four inches to a foot in length; they arise from a common 



center and spread in every direction ; 

 if the long extended tip of a frond 

 finds itself in favorable soil it sends 

 down roots and sends up a little 

 frond and a new plant is started. 

 This habit gives the fern its name. 

 Its fruit dots are elongated and 

 scattered over the lower surface of 

 the frond at all angles. The Walk- 

 ing Fern has suffered also from con- 

 waikmg Fem scienceless collectors. 



6"- 8" 



The Spleenworts. Asplenium 



The spleenworts have their varying forms but, however they 

 may differ in appearance, they all have the same kind of fruiting 

 organs. The indusium is oblong more or less crescent-shaped and 

 generally is placed oblique to the midrib 

 and opens toward the midrib of the pinna. 

 There are three large species, the Lady 

 Fern, the Narrow-leaved, and the Silvery 

 spleenworts which have fronds from two to 

 four feet high. They grow in moist woods 

 and shady ravines and the fruiting and the 

 sterile fronds differ very little. 



The rock spleenworts do not resemble the 

 above in any way except in the manner of 

 fruiting. There are nine species of these 

 small ferns, the green, the mountain, the 

 rock, the small, the pinnatified, the maiden- 

 hair, the ebony, the Bradley's, the Scott's, 

 and the wall rue. 



la lb 



The El>onv, The Narrow-leaved Spleenwori 

 s" 20" 2'- i< 



The Lady Fern and Wall Rue 



The Maidenhair Fern. Adiantum 



This delicate fern bears a striking resemblance to meadow rue 

 but need never to be confused with it because of its dark-brown 

 shining stem, if for no other characteristic. It grows in clumps in 



