CHAPTER XXIII. 



WOODWARDIA, Smith. 

 (Wood-ward'-i-a.) 

 Chain Ferns. 



HIS genus, which is a part of the tribe Blechnece, and was 

 named after Thomas Jenkinson Woodward, an English 

 botanist, is composed of about half-a-dozen distinct species, 

 of large or medium dimensions. In Hooker and Baker's 

 " Synopsis Filicum," Woodwardia forms Grenus 36. Its dis- 



tinctive character resides in the disposition of the sori (spore masses), which 

 are linear (narrow) or linear-oblong, and sunk in cavities of the frond placed 

 in single rows parallel with and contiguous to the midribs of the pinna3 and 

 pinnules (leaflets and leafits); they are covered by an involucre of a somewhat 

 leathery texture, of the same shape as the spore masses, and closing over 

 the cavity like a lid. In Woodwardia proper the veins always form a series 

 of costal arches, while in the remainder of the species they are either quite 

 free or anastomosing (intercrossing each other). 



Although only a small genus, Woodwardia is sub-divided, according to 

 the nature of the veins, into three sections as follow : 



Anchistea (Anch-is'-te-a), Presl. The plants of this section have uniform 

 fronds, with all their veins free between the sori and the margin. 



Euwoodwardia (Eu- wood- ward'-i-a), or true Woodwardia. In this 

 section the fronds are uniform, and their veins form at least one series of 

 areolations (cells or cavities) between the sori and the margin. 



