A Dictionary of Choice Ferns, 
281 
Of^OCLfK A— C07itinued. 
the lowest being wavy land thrown back, and many of them 
pinmatifid. Th-e leaflets lare of a light green colour and of 
a soft, papery texture, and they are frequently injured by 
late spring and early autumn frosts. The fertile fronds, 
produced only in autumn or late in the summer, are dis- 
posed in the middle of tho crown and perfectly erect; tbey 
are much shorter thian the barren ones, and much con- 
tracted. The lobes of the leaflets have their margins much 
recurved, so that the whole leaflet forms a somewhat 
articulated, pod-like body. The sori are covered by a 
delicate, cup-shaped involucre of a very short-lived nature. 
O. sensibilis. 
Undoubtedly 
this beautiful Fern 
is one of the oldest, 
if not even the 
very oldest, of 
exotic Ferns in- 
troduced to Eur- 
ope from North 
America. Its 
main attraction 
lies in the pleas- 
ing, soft, pale 
green colour of 
the lonely barren 
fronds, broadly tri- 
angular in outline, 
long-stalked, and 
cut down nearly 
to the midrib into Fig. 110. Onoclea sensibilis, showing 
oblong - spear- habit and portions of fertile frond and 
shaped leaflets, ^^^^^'^ 
which are wavy or slightly toothed at the margins. The 
middle of the frond is winged from the basal or from the 
second pair of leaflets, the wing at the base being very 
narrow, but gradually widening towards the summit. These 
barren fronds sometimes reach l^ft. in length, especially 
when the plants are well established in a naturally and 
constantly moist part of the rockery, and, as they are borne 
on stalks of about the same length, they measure about 3ft. 
in height, a result never attained under pot-culture. The 
texture is soft and papery, the surfaces are perfectly 
smooth, and the under-side is slightly bluish. The fronds 
do not last long when cut, even when put in water, but 
shrivel almost immediately, showing a disposition to fold 
