NEPHRODIUM. 



523 



are covered with a roundish indusium perfectly smooth and of a rather rigid 

 nature. — Hooker^ Filices Exoticw, t. 99. Nicholson^ Dictionary of Gardening^ 

 ii., p. 441. Eaton, Ferns of North America, ii., t. 67. 



N, (Lastrea) foenisecii — Las'-tre-a ; fce-nis-ec'-i-i (hay-scented). This is 

 synonymous with N. cemulum. 



N. (Lastrea) fragrans — Las^-tre-a ; fra'-grans (fragrant), Richard. 



This is a lovely little greenhouse plant (Fig. 128), usually known in 

 North America as the " Fragrant Wood Fern," on account of the pleasant 

 odour — compared by some authors to that of the Yiolet and by others to that 

 of the common Primrose — which is emitted by the fronds in a fresh state, 

 and which they retain for many years 

 when preserved dry in the herbarium. 

 Eaton states that it grows in crevices of 

 shaded cliffs, and on mossy banks, espe- 

 cially near cascades and rivulets, from 

 Northern New England to Wisconsin, and 

 northward to Arctic America. It is also 

 reported as being found in the Caucasus 

 and in Siberia, and has also been gathered 

 in quantities by Maximowicz and by Maries 

 at high elevations in Japan, where it is 

 said to give a most pleasant flavour to 

 the tea to which it is sometimes added 

 in that country. The fronds. Gin. to 9in. 

 long, IJin. broad, and of a somewhat 



leathery texture, are oblong-spear-shaped, being pointed at their extremity and 

 gradually tapering to a narrow base ; their leaflets are cut down nearly to the 

 rachis (stalk) into oblong lobes, which are again toothed or lobed. These 

 fronds are produced from an upright and rather stout rootstock covered with 

 broad, chafly scales of a light brown colour, and are borne on short stalks 

 of an equally scaly nature. Each crown generally produces six to eight 

 fronds, but as the crowns are usually found clustered together in a tuft of 

 five or six, they frequently present an agglomeration of thirty or more fronds 

 on one plant. The lower part of the fronds is often c^uite concealed by sori 



Fig. 128. Nephrodium fragrans 

 (i nat. size). 



