the star fern, 



Hemionitis palmata. 

 By Wiixard N. Clute. 



For some time this journal has been promising the beginners 

 a series of illustrated articles on curious or interesting exotic 

 ferns, and as our plans are now matured, we have selected the 

 star fern as the subject for the initial article. 



When one has begun a collection of either living or pressed 

 specimens of ferns, the star fern is usually one of the first exotics 

 to find a place in it. Its hardiness, notwithstanding its tropical 

 origin, enables it to thrive in greenhouse or conservatory life, 

 while its abundance in many parts of the West Indies causes it 

 to be represented in the collections of nearly every returned 

 traveler. The remarkable shape of its fronds add greatly to its 

 attractiveness in the eyes of those accustomed .only to seeing 

 ferns of the more usual shapes ; indeed the skilled filicologist 

 has to admit that this form is rare among ferns. 



In its native lands, the star fern grows on half shady banks 

 and prefers a moist situation, though it may often be found in 

 full sun on slopes so dry that one wonders how it survives at 

 all. During most of the year it may be exposed to an amount of 

 insolation that no fern in the Northern United States, with the 

 possible exception of the bracken, could withstand. In fact, the 

 star fern would probably fare as ill as any other species in such 

 locations were it not for its covering of close tawny hairs that 

 prevents rapid evaporation from the leaf. When the heat be- 

 comes too intense, or when the ground is so dry as to no longer 

 yield moisture, the fronds instead of dying, simply roll up and 

 wait until it rains, when they unroll again ready to take up 

 life anew. 



This fern's method of fruiting is very characteristic. The 

 veins in the frond anastomose at frequent intervals and the 

 spore-cases are borne copiously along these veins throughout 

 the frond, making it look as if it had been embroidered. This 

 however, is not the plant's only method of reproduction. In 

 the notches of the leaves little buds are formed, and as they grow 



