WOOD SI A. 



393 



W. (Physematium) caucasica — Phy-se-mat'-i-um j cau-cas'-ic-a 

 (Caucasian), J. Smith. 

 This species, better known in gardens under the name of W. fragilis, 

 is a native of the Caucasus, where it is found in rocky places, at elevations 

 varying between 1000ft.. and 6000ft. Its spear-shaped fronds, about Sin. 

 long, are twice divided to the midrib ; their stalkless leaflets, spear-shaped 

 or broadest at the base, are nearly opposite and again pinnate, the lobes or 

 leafits being oblong, sharp-pointed, and toothed on their margins. The 

 comparatively large spore masses are disposed two on each lobe or leant 

 and are situated one on each side near the margin. — Hooker, Species Filicum, 

 i., p. 62. Nicholson, Dictionary of Gardening, iv., p. 216. 



W. (Physematium) elongata — Phy-se-mat'-i-um ; e-long-a'-ta 

 (lengthened), Hooker. 

 A native of North-west India, where it occurs at 10,000ft. elevation. 

 Its oblong fronds, Sin. to 12in. long, are pinnate ; their oblong, blunt leaflets 

 are rather distant, stalkless, and cut more than half-way down into short, 

 rounded, somewhat toothed lobes, each bearing one spore mass on the 

 lower anterior veinlet. — Hooker, Species Filicum, i., p. 62, t. 21c. Beddome, 

 Ferns of British India, t. 14. 



W. fragilis — frag'-il-is (fragile). A name used in gardens for W. caucasica 

 and W. mollis. 



W. glabella — glab-el'-la (nearly smooth), Brown. 



This pretty little, delicate-looking Fern, which, Baker says, may possibly 

 be a glabrous form of W. hyperborea, is essentially a North American plant. 

 Eaton, in his excellent work, " Ferns of North America," says that it grows 

 on moist, mossy cliffs in the northern parts of New Hampshire, Vermont, 

 and New York, and from the Saguenay River and Montmorency Falls to 

 the Arctic Circle. It also occurs in Alpine and Arctic Europe, Siberia, 

 Kamtschatka, and on the islands near Behring's Strait. In habit it is much 

 like Asplenium viride, with narrow fronds tapering a little below, pinnate, 

 and perfectly smooth. These fronds, lin. to 4in. long, |in. broad, and produced 

 from an ascending rootstock, have their leaflets set far apart, all broadly 

 triangular, very blunt, and- cut into a few short, rounded or somewhat 



