iv. AVOODSIA. 
67 
The Oblong Woodsia has a thick tufted caudex, from 
which the wiry roots are produced. The deciduous fronds, 
which are pinnate and broadly lanceolate, vary from two 
to six, but seldom exceed four 
inches in height. They are some- 
what thick, appearing smooth 
above when mature, but in reality 
sparingly clothed with bristle-like 
scales, which, together with shining 
jointed hairs, are much more 
abundant on the veins beneath, 
and are also numerous on the stipes 
and rachis. The stipes is distinctly 
articulated or jointed at a short 
distance from its junction with the 
caudex to which it is adherent, 
and it is at this point the natural 
separation of the frond takes place, 
the basal portion remaining at- 
tached to the caudex, and the 
upper portion falling away. This 
articulation of the stipes is a cha- 
racter common to a section of the 
genus. The pinnae are usually 
opposite, oblong obtuse, broadest 
at the base, sessile, deeply lobed or 
pinnatifid with many ovate-oblong 
obscurely crenated segments. The 
mid-vein of these ultimate divisions 
is indistinct, the venules free, some- 
times branched and sometimes sim- 
ple, extending nearly to the mar- 
gin, in which position the sori are 
produced, thus forming a marginal 
series. The sori are circular and quite distinct in the young 
state, but become at length more or less confluent; and are 
often almost concealed by (he hair-scales already men- 
tioned, and by the capillary sjgments of their involucres. 
F2 
[Woodsia ilvensis.] 
