20 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



New Brunswick to Colorado, and in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and 

 Connecticut : it is of slenderer habit than the typical plant. The pinnae 

 (leaflets), from six to eight to each barren frond, are narrow- spear- shaped 

 and situated a little distance apart, the lower ones being sharply toothed. 

 The fertile frond, or fruiting segments, disposed in a close panicle of smaller 

 dimensions than in the species, is situated at the extremity of the common 

 stem, which is moderately fleshy and considerably swollen at the base, 

 where it encloses the bud of the fronds for the next year or two. — 

 Hooker, Synopsis Filicum, p. 447. Eaton, Ferns of North America, i., t. 5. 



B. r. matricariaefolium — ma-tri-ca'-ri-aj-fol'-i-um (Matricaria-leaved), 

 A. Braun. 



This is another form of B. rutaceum,, although in most works it is 

 classified as a distinct species. Eaton states that it is found in dark, 

 wet woods and in beds of moss along rivulets from New Hampshire and 

 Massachusetts to New York, Canada, &c. Correvon, on the other hand, 

 says that it is generally found growing in company with B. Lunaria, 

 though it appears to prefer dry pastures and the heath-beds of the mountains. 

 He adds that it is still found at Chamonix, in the Engadine and Tessin 

 districts of Switzerland, in Tyrol, in the Vosges Mountains, and in Kussia. 

 The barren frond, borne on the same stalk as the fertile one, is situated 

 very close to it, and in some cases so close that they appear as opposite 

 fronds : both are much divided and of a fleshy texture ; the barren one 

 is of a very dark, shining-green colour, and the fertile one is divided into 

 three branches bearing triangular pinnules divided into numerous fruiting 

 segments. — Eaton, Ferns of North America, i., t. 17. Correvon, Les Fougeres 

 rustiques, p. 165. 



B. simplex — sim'-plex (simple), Hitchcock. 



A very curious species, of small dimensions, and having somewhat 

 the general appearance of the Ophioglossum, or common Adder's- Tongue. 

 According to Eaton, it is generally found in pastures and on hill-sides from 

 New Brunswick and New England westward to Lake Superior, Wyoming 

 Territory, and California ; it is also found in Northern Europe. The stem, 

 Sin. to 4in. long, is of a slender nature, and bears a short- stalked barren 



