96 



THE BOOK OF CHOICE FERNS. 



C. bulbifera— bul-bif'-er-a (bulbil-bearing), Bernharcli. 



This singular and elegant species, which takes its name from the large, 

 fleshy bulbils borne its up]3er leaflets (Fig. 18), is a very distmct plant, 

 essentially of ISTorth American origin, and quite as hardy as any of the British 

 kinds. According to Eaton, it is found growing wild on dripping rocky 

 banks and m moist places amongst rocks, and sometimes where there are 



Fi^. 18. Frond of Cystopteris bulblft 



(nat. size). 



no rocks, from Canada and New England to Tennessee, and westward to 

 Wisconsin and Arkansas. It is not miiversally distributed over the country, 

 and seems to prefer a calcareous soil. The fronds, which wither at the first 

 appearance of frost, are of a thin, papery texture, and yet not without a kind 

 of brittle rigidity ; they are produced from a rootstock that is usually quite 

 short, seldom over lin. long, and covered with the persistent and somewhat 



