AsPIDIUM. 



FILICES. 



495 



**** Aspidie^e, J. Sm. Sori roundish. Involucres orbicular, reniform or cucullate, either peltate 

 or attached to the inner side of the receptacle, rarely calyciform and including the capsules. 



12. ASPIDIUM Sivartz, si/nop. Fil. p. 3. SHIELD-FERN. 



[From the Greek, aspis, a shield ; in allusion to the form of the involucre.] 

 Lastrea, Borg. ; Polystichum, Roth. ; Hypopeltis, Michx. 



Sori round, seated on the middle or extremity of the veinlets. Involucres orbicular and cen- 

 tral, or reniform and lateral. — Fronds mostly pinnate, or bi-tripinnate : segments often 

 serrate : veins forked or pinnate ; the veinlets free, direct (sometimes anastomosing, but not 

 in any of the following species). 



1. Aspidium marginale, Swartz. Marginal Shield-fern. 



Frond bipinnate ; pinnata lanceolate ; segments oblong, obtuse, crenate-serrate, decurrent, 

 the lower ones nearly distinct ; sori nearly marginal, distinct ; stipe chaffy. — Swartz, I. c. ; 

 Wild. sp. 5. p. 259 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 662 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 391 ; Torr. compend. p. 382; 

 Beck, hot. p. 450 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 578. Polypodium marginale, Linn. sp. 2. p. 1091. 

 Nephrodium marginale, Michx. fl. 2. p. 267. Lastrea marginale, J. Smith, I. c. 



Stipe chaffy, with large brown scales, stout, 5-8 inches long. Frond ovate-oblong, 12 - 

 18 inches long, and 5 - 7 inches wide, smooth, bluish-green, of a firm texture : segments 

 8-10 lines long, often a little falcate ; the lower ones abruptly contracted at the base, and 

 then decurrent : midrib flexuous, the veins ramified. Sori the size of a common pin's head, 

 10- 14 on each segment, terminating the veinlets near the sinuses of the teeth. Involucre 

 peltate-reniform, finally stipitate and somewhat funnel-form by the growth of the capsules 

 around it. 



Rocky moist woods and hill-sides : common. Fr. July. 



2. Aspidium Goldianum, Hook. Goldies Shield-fern. 



Frond pinnate, broadly ovate ; pinnae deeply pinnatifid, lanceolate ; segments oblong, rather 

 acute, somewhat falcate, with remote appressed serratures ; sori near the midrib ; stipe and 

 rachis somewhat chaffy. — Hook, in Edinb. new pliil. jour. 6. p. 333, <£• fl. Bor.-Am. 2. 

 p. 260 ; Hook. $ Grev. ic. Fil. t. 102 ; Torr. compend. p. 381 ; Beck, hot. p. 450. A. 

 Filix-mas, Pursh, fl. 2. p. 662, not of Willd. Lastrea Goldiana, /. Smith. 



Whole plant, except the stipe, smooth, 2 feet or more in height. Frond 6-12 inches wide, 

 bright yellowish green : pinnae alternate, acute : segments about three-fourths of an inch in 

 length, closely approximated ; the veins forked, the first fork from the upper side of each 

 primary vein, bearing a sorus. Sori 12-16 on the lower segments. Involucre reniform- 

 peltate. 



Shady moist woods, in rich soil. Northern and western counties ; also on Long Island. 

 Fr. July. 



